The Coalition of the Swilling

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February 28, 2009

Sitting in a Cold, Lonely Hangar in Iwakuni at 3 a.m.

...our night crew would always stop when AFN would rebroadcast "The Rest of the Story". We all loved Paul Harvey's segments, like nothing else on that sorry network.

Paul Harvey, the legendary radio host whose career sharing "the rest of the story" with listeners spanned more than 70 years, has died, according to ABC Radio Networks.



He was 90.

Immortal, more like. I thought he was.

R.I.P. and thanks, Mr. Harvey ~ from one of the millions in uniform who looked forward to hearing your voice.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:02 PM | Comments (5)

Music Theory

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:07 PM | Comments (1)

Good to See the Old Hometown Getting a Little Attention

...somewhere other than me writing about it for the Swilling.

Pensacola Doesn't Look a Day Over 450 Years Old

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Long overlooked in favor of hot spots like Orlando and Miami, Pensacola hopes a yearlong 450th birthday bash will lure visitors to this city on the western edge of Florida's Panhandle.

Festivals, parades, battle reenactments, art exhibits and other events will commemorate Spanish explorer Don Tristan de Luna's 1559 arrival at Pensacola Bay.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain set the tone with a royal visit Feb. 19, touring the city of 60,000 and visiting Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the world-famous U.S. Navy's Blue Angels aerial demonstration team.

Nice article, really.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:42 PM

February 27, 2009

So I Took A Flight On Ryanair Yesterday...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:08 PM | Comments (11)

Quote of the Day

The tenderness of the delicate American buttock...

If you've EVER had the misfortune to intimately encounter the rough, fibrous, weirdly waxy cardboard the Brits call 'toilet paper', you'll understand the 'holier-than-thou' in their condemnation of our Charmin soft nation.



I like to think it leaves us in a better frame of mind to deal with the REAL pricks, scrapes and scratches of life, vice welcoming dawn with a stiff upper lip because you have to. NOTHING starts your day right like a soft, sparkling clean bear ass.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:07 PM | Comments (21)

I'll Give Him That

...To all you loyal PWB readers who make up America’s best hope for a legitimate third party, thank you for the concerned emails asking where we had gone and when we’d be back. To be truthful, I gave the staff and interns a couple weeks off while the site was being redone.

Meanwhile, I spent my time holed up at Buzzy’s trying to figure out how I ended up living in a socialist country.

It is confusing.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:53 AM

Constitution? What Constitution?

All that matters is what the Democrats want.

The Senate passed a bill yesterday that would give the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, but lawmakers attached language strongly opposed by city leaders that strips most local gun-control laws.

The gun amendment complicates the D.C. vote bill's passage into law, because the legislation will have to be reconciled with a companion bill in the House with no gun provisions that is expected to be approved next week. Some D.C. officials said it was ironic that the Senate bill granted the city full representation in the House while also overruling the District's decisions on a key local issue.

Well, actually, what "complicates" this bill is a little thing called the US Constitution. Only Representatives from States are members and may vote. DC is not a state, last time I checked. For DC to get voting rights requires a constitutional amendment; acts of Congress simply are not sufficient. Let's not forget, if DC gets a vote for its one Representative, how can it be denied TWO Senators by this rogue Congress?

As Ann Althouse says

I don't know how even to articulate an argument that it's constitutional to give a vote to a D.C. representative in the House.
Shredding the Constitution. It's not just for the Bush administration anymore.

Pure, naked power grab.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:22 AM | Comments (7)

Dust In The Wind. All We Are Is Dust In The Wind...

And according to the EPA we're liable for it, too

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Nothing says summer in Iowa like a cloud of dust behind a combine.

But what may be a fact of life for farmers is a cause for concern to federal regulators, who are refusing to exempt growers from new environmental regulations.

...Under rules imposed in 2006, rural areas would be kept to the same standards as urban areas for what the Environmental Protection Agency calls "coarse particulate matter" in the air.

...In 2006, the EPA determined larger particles in the air than previously thought were a danger to the public. The increased threshold covered air mixes that occur in rural areas.

EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourn said the changes are not just a matter of regulating dust. They serve the public's well-being and, regardless of whether someone lives in a rural or urban area, the threshold for unsafe levels of dust in the air must remain consistent nationally.

"It's health-based," she said. "We don't look at a particular industry. The goal is to protect public health."

So farmers plow their fields, it doesn't rain and the wind picks up. Break out your checkbooks, boys!

Absolutely insane, and yet another wonderful example of why we need radically less government.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:51 AM | Comments (5)

First They Charge You For Your "Carry On"

Now they'll charge you for what you want to off-load

Irish budget airline Ryanair has said it is considering charging passengers for using the toilet while flying.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary told the BBC that the Dublin-based carrier was looking at maybe installing a "coin slot on the toilet door".

Always dumping on the passengers...

Given the amount of liquids consumed on Ryanair flights, which tend to be drunk-a-thons, this is a really really bad idea and will lead to some...messy and rather unpleasant in-flight "incidents."

"Clean up in aisle 6..."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:29 AM | Comments (1)

Hope And Change: Getting The World's Love

...one nation at a time

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Argentina on Thursday blasted the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency for saying the country, along with Ecuador and Venezuela, could be pushed into instability by the global economic crisis.

Lumping Argentina together with Ecuador and Venezuela, both led by leftist anti-Washington firebrands, raises concern in this country, where center-left President Cristina Kirchner is trying to keep the economy from stagnating.

Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana called the comments made on Wednesday by CIA Director Leon Panetta "unfounded and irresponsible, especially from an agency that has a sad history of meddling in the affairs of countries in the region."

Taiana said he will meet on Friday with U.S. Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne to demand an explanation. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

Thanks god we've got these seasoned professionals who hit the ground running in charge now, eh?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:04 AM

February 26, 2009

"Homeland Security" My Ass

Well, technically it's the Hugh Moore Historical Park's asses

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal anti-terror law that requires longshoremen, truckers and others to submit to criminal background checks has ensnared another class of transportation worker -- mule drivers. Mule skinners must abide by federal law and apply for Transportation Worker Identification Credentials, TSA says.

Yes, so-called mule skinners -- in this case, seasonal workers who dress in colonial garb at a historical park in Easton, Pa. -- must apply for biometric Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC), according to the Transportation Security Administration, which says it is bound by federal law.

The requirement has officials of the Hugh Moore Historical Park perplexed.

"We have one boat. It's pulled by two mules. On a good day they might go 2 miles per hour," said Sarah B. Hays, the park's director of operations.

The park's two-mile canal does not pass any military bases, nuclear power plants or other sensitive facilities. And, park officials say, the mules could be considered weapons of mass destruction only if they were aimed at something resembling food.

... On Wednesday, the mule skinner debate reached Capitol Hill, when Dent asked new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about the necessity of conducting background checks on mule drivers. He displayed a photo of two mules, Hank and George, tugging a canal boat in the company of two park employee mule drivers in colonial working attire.

"Now Hank and George, while sometimes are ornery, they are not terrorists," Dent said. Napolitano said she would try to be flexible.

"Try to be flexible." Blech. What asinine bureaucrat-speak. How about just saying "This is stupid," Madame Secretary?

Do we really want the government regulating and licensing our asses?

Talk about invasion of privacy.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:38 AM | Comments (8)

Yes, We Really Want To Follow Down Europe's Path

I mean, just look how swimmingly State-Sponsored Everything is working over there

The vast imbalances that have been allowed to build up under the seductive protection of EMU leave German taxpayers facing bail-out liabilities that exceed the cost of reparations after the First World War, in proportional terms. The political ground has not been prepared for this. EMU was foisted on the German people without a referendum, in the face of deep public scepticism and scathing criticisms by the professoriat. This failure to secure a mandate for such a revolutionary undertaking is coming back to haunt them.

Berlin is at last having to deliver on the Faustian bargain made by Germany's political class when it swapped the D-Mark for French acquiescence in reunification. It must either go the whole way towards EMU fiscal union and take responsibility for Italy's public debt (111pc of GDP by next year), Austria's loans to Eastern Europe (70pc of GDP), the adventures of Ireland's 'Canary Dwarf' (€400bn or so in liabilities), and Spain's housing collapse (1m unsold homes), or jeopardize its half-century investment in the political order of post-war Europe. Letting EMU fail at this stage would have far higher costs than never having launched the project in the first place.

Remember, bureaucrats who've never run any business know much more about how to run yours than you do.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:47 AM | Comments (3)

February 25, 2009

Whoa, The AP Checks Out Obama's Assertions

Somebody's gonna get a talking to at the AP's offices for this display of stones

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama knows Americans are unhappy that their taxes will be used to rescue people who bought mansions beyond their means.

But his assurance Tuesday night that only the deserving will get help rang hollow.

Read the rest but make sure you are sitting down first.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:31 AM | Comments (5)

A Modest Mortgage Proposal

The more I read about stories like the one below, where the guy in the cave house has to sell, the more annoyed I get. Look, as Ed at HotAir pointed out the other day, you do not get foreclosed because your home has "lost" appraised value. You get foreclosed because you are not making the payments. This can not be repeated enough. Certainly there are people who have lost their jobs, and if the Government feels it 'must' help some folks then these are the ones that it should consider. But they are the only ones. The VAST majority of people who are being foreclosed (ok, I am making a complete guess on this, but based on anecdotal evidence, i.e. every story I see in the MSM that's the conclusion I've reached, and since it's my blog I feel free to make shit up if it advances my point, and that includes crafting sweeping generalizations) are being foreclosed because they took one of two gambles when getting their mortgage. The traditional mortgage is at a fixed rate for 30 years. You know exactly the amount you're going to pay every month; it doesn't change. People with these mortgages aren't defaulting. They budgeted based on their incomes and they're making their payments.

The folks who are in trouble, on the other hand, got themselves into a mess in a couple of ways, all of which involved poor investment decisions that in no way shape or form should we be required to bail them out of. Look, this is not hindsight talking; these were risky, hell, crappy, ideas back when the folks did them. We bought our house in 1999 and prices were literally rising daily on the houses that we looked at; we looked at these alternative mortgages and thought "why the hell would we want to do that? We want to know exactly what our payment will be every month." One of these bad ideas is that, caught up in the speculative housing bubble, they saw houses not as a long-term place to live that also happened to be a decent investment but rather as a chance to make a lot of short-term profits. So they bought a house using one of these stupid-ass "balloon" mortgages, where the payments are relatively low for 5 or 6 years and then you have to pay the entire balance off. This works great if the market stays hot and you can sell the house, but you are totally dead if the housing market even stagnates, let alone drops. As the market has indeed dropped the flippers are screwed.

Another group who has been killed by the downturn in house values are the ATM-ers, the people who used their houses as ATMs to finance lifestyles way beyond their means. People who had owned their houses for a while, had reasonable payments and perhaps even had paid off their mortgages got seduced by the easy money to draw out hundreds of thousands of dollars in the "equity" that their houses had built up by taking out home equity loans or re-mortgaging the house based on the new inflated appraisals. And they spent that cash on cars, cruises, furniture, electronics, fancy meals; all sorts of toys and that spending in large part drove our economy's bubble for the last decade. These folks needed the housing market to keep rising so they could keep re-financing basis the higher home equity to support their living beyond their means. They are like speculators in stock or commodity markets; they guessed wrong and now the margin payments are due. Go watch "Trading Places" again for the Duke's margin call.

There is no reason to bail any of these folks out; that would only encourage more of this behavior. I mean, hell, if we bail these people out we might as well bail out the stupid, poorly-run banks who abandoned any sense of fiscal prudence in loaning them the money too, right? Oh poop....

There's also another group of folks who are in a bind here, and that's the people who took out Adjustable Rate mortgages. Again, these people were gambling. They thought that interest rates would go down (even though they have been near historic lows for the past decade) and thus their monthly payments would go down as well when the rates adjusted. Many of them were wrong. Again, why should we bail them out? When we bought our house in 1999 we budgeted based on the fixed rate at the time and got the fixed mortgage accordingly; it was around 7.25% I believe. In fact rates did go down and I was able to re-finance at 5.125% about 4 years later which was a bonus for us. I certainly didn't take on a higher initial payment than I could afford on the gambler's hope that rates would go my way, which is in effect what these people did. Again, why should I be forced to cover someone else's gambling debts?

So here's my proposal. We need to get away from thinking of houses as liquid, short-term assets and eliminate flipping so that people will budget and only buy houses that are within their means to afford for the long-haul. Certainly from the banking side they need to use due diligence and not make loans to people who can not be reasonably expected to pay them back; home ownership is not a "right" but an economic privilege that one earns through work and proven credit reliability, so all the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac inducements that have caused many of these problems need to go. But also I think that balloon loans and ARMs need to be eliminated to cut down on the gambling, speculation and unpleasant surprises; the only mortgages that can be done should be fixed-rate.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:27 AM | Comments (8)

February 24, 2009

Some Quick Links So You Can Get As Mad As I Am

*Houston considers paying off $3000 on people's credit cards...so they can take on much more debt and buy houses

*AIG. Remember them? The Smartest People Ever gave them $150 Billion of our money...and now AIG will declare a $60 Billion loss and may go bankrupt

*Man is shocked when balloon mortgage payment...balloons. "Victim" may lose cave.

*Professor takes brave, courageous stand as University increases her teaching load 50%...from 2 courses per year to 3.

It's Fat Tuesday, and I am so disgusted by all of this that I am going to give up my liver for Lent, starting tonight.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:58 PM | Comments (8)

Some Thoughts For Us Chumps

You know, us simple folk who didn't use our houses as ATMs

You played by the rules.

Invested conservatively. Looked for company names you could trust, like Lehman Bros. (LEHMQ, news, msgs). Didn't sell out at the first or even second downturn in the markets.

Saved up for a down payment. Paid your bills on time and kept your credit card balances down so you could build up your credit rating. Shopped around for a fixed-rate mortgage. Didn't buy more house than you could afford.

Managed your company for the long run. Built up trust with your bank. Earned the trust of your suppliers and customers. Kept debt to a minimum even if it meant growing more slowly.

Now, don't you feel like a chump?

Your retirement portfolio is worth 40% less than at the end of 2007. Your house is worth 20% less. Your company is scrambling to stay afloat because your oh-so-friendly banker has cut your credit line.

But the worst is that you see people all around who behaved like fools, people who lied on their mortgage applications, who piled on debt like there was no tomorrow or who ran their companies into the ground and who are now getting bailed out by the federal government. With your money.

This gets to the core of the groundswell of anger folks are feeling. Those of us who scrimped and saved and bought modest houses after carefully budgeting are getting royally screwed by the bastards who kept re-mortgaging and flipping houses to support extravagant lifestyles and new cars every three years. Why should I support these people? Why should I support companies whose products consumers have stopped buying? Why should my child be put into debt to support these people?

Obama said yesterday

"I refuse to leave our children with a debt they cannot repay," he said in remarks opening the one-day summit at the White House. "We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these without end. ... We cannot simply spend as we please."

Which I guess sounds somewhat noble until you think...why the hell are we burdening our children with any debt for our failure to live within our means? Wouldn't a proper response be to take the bitter medicine now, take the pain now and give our children a chance to live better? But no, Obama wants to burden our children with a debt they can pay, a debt caused by this generations refusal to accept responsibility for it's fiscal insanity.

If there ever was a case for the following generation to hate the previous, he's building it.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:42 AM | Comments (5)

I Dress In Women's Clothing...

...and now I'm behind bars

BOULDER, Colo. — A 21-year-old man wanted by the U.S. Army for desertion was arrested in Boulder over the weekend.

In a strange twist, he was found wearing a woman’s thong and had three pairs of women’s underpants stuffed in his shirt pocket.

Boulder police said they received an anonymous tip Saturday that Christopher Mauger, who has a nationwide felony warrant for desertion, could be found in an apartment unit at 770 29th St. in Boulder.

Be all that you can be, good sir.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:05 AM | Comments (3)

February 23, 2009

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1997

But, hey! Wasn't Clinton President then? Life's grand again!

Stocks continued to slide today, with the Dow Jones industrials and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index falling to their lowest levels since 1997, as worries mounted that the deepening recession will overwhelm efforts to shore up the ailing financing system.

At 2:25 p.m. ET, the Dow was down 119 points, or 1.6%, to 7,247. The S&P 500 was off 13 points, 1.7%, to 757. The Nasdaq Composite Index was off 31 points, or 2.2%, to 1,409, its lowest level since 2003.

As of 3:20 pm, the Dow is now down 209 to 7,156...change you can believe in!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:58 PM | Comments (8)

In One Of The Most Disgusting Corruption Cases I've Seen

It's no surprise that politics reign as usual. Yes, CNN loves to play "Name That Party" don't they?

(CNN) -- At a friend's sleepover more than a year ago, 14-year-old Phillip Swartley pocketed change from unlocked vehicles in the neighborhood to buy chips and soft drinks. The cops caught him.

There was no need for an attorney, said Phillip's mother, Amy Swartley, who thought at most, the judge would slap her son with a fine or community service.

But she was shocked to find her eighth-grader handcuffed and shackled in the courtroom and sentenced to a youth detention center. Then, he was shipped to a boarding school for troubled teens for nine months.

"Yes, my son made a mistake, but I didn't think he was going to be taken away from me," said Swartley, a 41-year-old single mother raising two boys in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

CNN does not usually identify minors accused of crimes. But Swartley and others agreed to be named to bring public attention to the issue.

As scandals from Wall Street to Washington roil the public trust, the justice system in Luzerne County, in the heart of Pennsylvania's struggling coal country, has also fallen prey to corruption. The county has been rocked by a kickback scandal involving two elected judges who essentially jailed kids for cash. Many of the children had appeared before judges without a lawyer.

Judges, elected judges, who are so corrupt and debased that they are giving kids harsher sentences and sending them to reform schools in exchange for kickbacks. You'd *think* that the party affiliation might be newsworthy of such elected scum.

CNN doesn't think it's worthy of mention.

But lookee here

...Ciavarella edged Giovannini by 378 votes (18,759 to 18,381) for the Democratic nod.

These "judges" should be put away for ever.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:31 PM | Comments (5)

It's Carnival!

So naturally Ken

is off to Rio for a few days.

Lucky devil.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:32 AM | Comments (5)

February 22, 2009

Brother, Reading This?

..."This is a horrible tragedy, but it gives us a window," said Abdul-Ghafur, editor of the anthology "Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak." "The next time a woman comes to her imam and says, 'He hit me,' the reply might not be, 'Be patient, sister, is there something you did, sister? Is there something you can do?'

The chances are greater the imam will say, 'This is unacceptable."'

"GREATER"? "The chances are GREATER"?!?!?! You've got bigger problems than you know. Get your misogynist, intolerant, religious heads out your asses.

Until the day EVERY Muslim religious leader in these United States tells each and every schwinging schwanz in their mosque to keep their filthy hands to themselves, until there is outright condemnation ~ in EVERY instance ~ of the marginalization and virtual enslavement of Muslim women, regardless of WHAT the males think that book tells them they can do, you will be looked at with suspicion and DISGUST. (Kind of how I look at my liberal sisters when they conveniently ignore the subjugation of your women abroad and HERE.)

How inconvenient that this murderous asshole exposed the flaw in your whole "religion of peace wants to co-exist with our neighbor and not get glared at while shopping" charade. Until the mouths in the mosque are preaching what the mouthpieces in the street are pretending to believe (while claiming their aggrieved status as a persecuted people, no less), there will be no end to the 'misunderstanding' you all love to hold close. When, in the face of such beastiality, the best one of your "moderates" can do is hope for a "greater chance" that an imam would chastize the beater vice the beatee? As an American woman, I should accept so pitiful a response as answer to my questions about the very humanity of your religion, less mind its place in this most equal and free of countries in the world?

It makes me sick. YOU. Make me sick.

And your prevarications excusing atrocity have no place here.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:26 PM | Comments (7)

Sunday Noodling

There are a couple things troubling me at the moment. While I am absolutely sure there will be MORE things, these are gnawing away. And I'm out of bellini mix, hence nothing to do but brood.

The first thing is something major dad overheard being asked on CNBC and there was no answer forthcoming from the Congressperson to whom it was addressed:

What happens to the proceeds of these refinanced/bail-out mortgages when home values go up ~ as they will eventually ~ and the previously distressed home owners who availed themselves of the government largesse expect to sell at a profit?

"Hey! It's MY house! I pay the mortgage!" (No, excuse me ~ WE payed your mortgage...)What about that? Have they even thought of it? The folks who are busting their collective tookusses to keep up with the obligations of their lives have sure as hell thought of it.

Then there's the question of being laid off from a job (or experiencing a critical income squeeze, ie., partner job loss, severe compensation cut-back, etc.), but managing to throttle back enough to meet your obligations as you should. You're just making due, but. You can't stop...

...wondering ~ come April ~ what magic cloud the dough's supposed to drop from that will pay an additional IRS obligation, if owed?

And lots of folks owe anywhere from a little to a buttload by the variability of their income stream. Is the Geithner Daschle "Cabinet Secretary" Rule in effect yet? (I think the blackguard in charge of the Treasury is morally obligated to give us ALL the benefit of an extended payment plan, 'cause at least we'll pay it.)

And what happens to the "stimulus" projections when tax receipts tank? That what was withheld during '09 may be all that's in the pipeline, regardless of what Turbotax says you need to write a check for? (Unless, of course, you've got Geithner's Daschle's a Turbotax "Watch Me Pull a Rabbit Outta My Hat" version.)

Then what happens to the whopping $65/mth if you do have a job?

Do they take it back?

Stuff like that really bugs me.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:04 PM

Ooops! Ice Ice Baby!

Remember all the uproar about how arctic sea ice levels were at their lowest ever, causing all the cute cuddly polar bears to die of starvation and drowning because they couldn't traipse about on the ice while looking for fish sea kittens to eat discuss chemical energy transference issues with?

Well, it looks like things were misunderestimated

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- A glitch in satellite sensors caused scientists to underestimate the extent of Arctic sea ice by 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles), a California- size area, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center said.

The error, due to a problem called “sensor drift,” began in early January and caused a slowly growing underestimation of sea ice extent until mid-February. That’s when “puzzled readers” alerted the NSIDC about data showing ice-covered areas as stretches of open ocean, the Boulder, Colorado-based group said on its Web site.

“Sensor drift, although infrequent, does occasionally occur and it is one of the things that we account for during quality- control measures prior to archiving the data,” the center said. “Although we believe that data prior to early January are reliable, we will conduct a full quality check.’’

The extent of Arctic sea ice is seen as a key measure of how rising temperatures are affecting the Earth. The cap retreated in 2007 to its lowest extent ever* and last year posted its second- lowest annual minimum at the end of the yearly melt season. The recent error doesn’t change findings that Arctic ice is retreating, the NSIDC said.

*as everyone knows the word "ever" is of course defined as "oh, the last 50 years or so."

Of course, don't you fear that there could possibly be any other errors in the data the Gorebalists are using. No sirree, not a chance.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:57 AM | Comments (3)

February 21, 2009

If You Have HBO, In 35 Minutes Tune In

UPDATE: Oh, man.

It was a love letter. A heartbreaking, uplifting, Semper Fidelis love letter.

Thank you, HBO.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:26 PM | Comments (5)

Remind Me Again Which Party It Is...

That values "monied interests" and "big business" over "human dignity"?

“America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists. We press for openness and justice — not to impose our beliefs but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs.”

-George Bush, August 8th, 2008

"Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises."

-Hillary Clinton, February 20th, 2009

It takes a village to efficiently repress humanity.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:05 PM | Comments (12)

Hillary: Chinese Slave Factories? It's All Good!

Now here's some change you can believe in

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broached the issue of human rights with Chinese leaders Saturday, but emphasized that the world economic and other crises are more pressing and immediate priorities.

"Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises," Clinton said in talks with China's foreign minister.

So since she supports the Chinese child slave labor factories as they pump out melamine-laced products and lead painted toys in the struggle against the "world economic crisis," I can only assume that she, and her boss, are now in favor of keeping Guantanamo open as well since in their new official world view that she announced "Human rights cannot interfere with...security crises" either.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:29 AM | Comments (8)

Pretty Vacant

The Depart of Energy's own website says it better than I ever could

Wile E Chuyote, Super Genius

In the comments to my post yesterday reader "pmp" chides moi for taking a "cheap shot" at Dr. Chu

Y'know, you'd think that with all the genuine mess-ups being committed by this administration on a daily basis, you wouldn't have to resort to cheap shots.

First off, my dear fellow, I like cheap shots. Oh sure, sometimes I pride myself on a skillful parry with a foil or some daring Errol Flynn-esque derring-do with a witty rapier thrust, but heck, sometimes when the softball's been tossed slowly right down Main Street ya' needs to just whack at the damn thing, you know?

But to defend myself against this worrisome charge let's look again at the situation in question. Dr. Chu, aka "Wile E Chuyote, Super Genius," was named to his post on December 15th, 2008, well over a month before President Obama was to be inaugurated. So one would reasonably expect that a Cabinet Member, especially a "Nobel Prize Winner," of an Administration that was pledging to "hit the ground running," especially one who is "charged with helping implement President Obama’s ambitious agenda to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs" (and to boldly go where no man has gone before!)...I don't know, is it a "cheap shot" to be upset that the Point Man for our Glorious Leader's Ambitious Energy Agenda, the man who is the Official Spokesman for US Energy Policy, after eight weeks of preparation can do no better than this:

At a forum with reporters on Thursday, (Steven Chu) the head of the department that has traditionally taken the lead on global oil-market policy, was asked what message the Obama administration had for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at its meeting next month.

"I'm not the administration," the Cabinet secretary replied. "I will be speaking and learning more about this in order to figure out what the U.S. position should be and what the president's position is."

...The day before, reporters asked him about OPEC output levels after a speech to a group of utility regulators. He responded that the issue was "not in my domain."

I'm sorry, that is simply gobsmackingly incompetent. I can not possibly fathom how one could characterize this as "cautious, circumspect, and reassuring." You find it reassuring that after two months the Secretary has no idea what his policy positions are, what his boss's positions are, or even what subjects fall in to his own portfolio? I mean, gosh, "OPEC output levels" might possibly be of concern to the Secretary of Energy? Who could ever have imagined such a thing! Is this some secret right-wing plot?

Yes, it's illustrative/indicative/representative of damn near every other appointment and nearly every decision that Obama has made...which is sadly not surprising for a guy who has zero executive experience.

You're better than that.

Dude, you're talking about a guy who writes posts titled "Sorry Guys: No More Hummers"

No I'm not.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:26 AM | Comments (8)

February 20, 2009

A New Situation Comedy: Obamarama and the Keystone Cabinet

President Obama's transportation department slapped down a suggestion by its own secretary Friday that the government tax motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn.

The laughs NEVER end!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:36 PM | Comments (4)

Quote of the Day

"My husband and I always discuss, 'Why do we try to better ourselves, when it seems if you do nothing, you get all the help in the world?'”

I'm SO there, ma'am.

As my hero Rick Santelli says, "Tea party!"

UPDATE: Gracious goodness, HOARDES of disgruntled...Instapundit mortgage/tax payers!!! A Warm Swill Welcome to you all and our fervent thanks to the Blogfaddah, who should be aware that his box o' tea and war paint is waiting at the rail on the starboard side of our tipsy ship o' state.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:20 PM | Comments (8)

You Know, If We Weren't Getting So Totally Screwed By These Clowns...

I'd be laughing my ass off

At a forum with reporters on Thursday, (Steven Chu) the head of the department that has traditionally taken the lead on global oil-market policy, was asked what message the Obama administration had for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at its meeting next month.

"I'm not the administration," the Cabinet secretary replied. "I will be speaking and learning more about this in order to figure out what the U.S. position should be and what the president's position is."

...The day before, reporters asked him about OPEC output levels after a speech to a group of utility regulators. He responded that the issue was "not in my domain."

Read the rest of the post at Ace's and weep in your bathtub gin tonight, friends.

Good lord.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:13 PM | Comments (8)

Gee, Who Could Have Seen This Coming?

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you

Iran has built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.

In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.

They said Iran had accumulated more than one tonne of low enriched uranium hexafluoride at a facility in Natanz.

If such a quantity were further enriched it could produce more than 20kg of fissile material – enough for a bomb.

“It appears that Iran has walked right up to the threshold of having enough low enriched uranium to provide enough raw material for a single bomb,” said Peter Zimmerman, a former chief scientist of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

Boy, we better give them a stern talking to now, eh?

And maybe get Hans Brix to write a strong letter.

Now I'm definitely drinking this weekend.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:54 AM | Comments (7)

Dow Futures Down 130

"Change you can believe in" is now "small change is all you've got left."

Time to start drinking.

Shock: Bank lied, got billions.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:47 AM | Comments (2)

February 19, 2009

Sister Blogging Will Be Sparse Today

...since I'm going to a party.

The latest chapter in Pensacola's 450-year shared heritage with Spain unfolded Wednesday night with the arrival of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia.

Did you know Pensacola's America's first settlement? 1559, baby. And both the handover of Florida from Spain to the U.S. and the inauguration of Andrew Jackson as Governor happened about 50 feet in front of where I work. Coincidentally, a certain king and queen will be there this afternoon.

And I've got to get cracking before they close the streets off.

This is SO cool.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:34 AM | Comments (9)

The Artful Doddger

Look who keeps getting his name left off these kinda lists!

Analysis: Democrats self-destructing over ethics

Everybody and his mother except HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED...


...laughing all the way to the bank.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:27 AM | Comments (8)

One Of The Most Glorious Days Of Our Republic

...Was the day Miracle Whip Died

Today we take a sad look back at the dark day in 2006 when Kraft Foods made the horrible decision to change the recipe for Miracle Whip. In one fell swoop they destroyed a classic American tradition and pushed civilization one step closer to the abyss. We’ve never fully recovered.

While those of us who have class and dignity rightly rejoice in the triumph of the one true brand, sadly there are others who cling to their failed and false idol.

(via Insta, who sadly is whipped)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:18 AM | Comments (10)

February 18, 2009

Some People Are Interpreting This

...as:

"Doncha Just Love Hamas!
Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You!"

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
­
For Immediate Release February 2, 2009
January 27, 2009
Presidential Determination

No. 2009-15

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
SUBJECT: Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration

Needs Related to Gaza

By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 2(c)(1) of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (the "Act"), as amended (22 U.S.C. 2601), I hereby determine, pursuant to section 2(c)(1) of the Act, that it is important to the national interest to furnish assistance under the Act in an amount not to exceed $20.3 million from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for the purpose of meeting unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs, including by contributions to international, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations and payment of administrative expenses of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department of State, related to humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza.

You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

I hope they're wrong.

It could be a little more stimulating than anyone wants.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:54 PM | Comments (8)

"A Nation Of Cowards"

And not only that, but we actually have the nerve make private decisions in our private lives

(WASHINGTON) Attorney General Eric Holder described the United States Wednesday as a nation of cowards on matters of race, saying most Americans avoid discussing unresolved racial issues.

In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans still self-segregate on the weekends and in their private lives.

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," said Holder, nation's first black attorney general.

Race issues continue to be a topic of political discussion, Holder said, but "we, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race."

I am so sputteringly mad at this, at the sheer arrogance of it, that I can't think straight.

How DARE we have private lives. How DARE we "cowards" decide who we will associate with, if anyone, on the weekends.

How DARE we racist cowards elect a black man to be our President.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:43 PM | Comments (11)

Debbie Gibson Needs A Maid...And A New Realtor

If this really is her house, what the hell was the realtor thinking in publishing the photos? (click on the photo to enlarge)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:06 AM | Comments (3)

Sorry Guys: No More Hummers

or Saturns or Saabs either

Say goodbye to Saturn. And Saab and Hummer, for that matter. Pontiac, too, for all intents and purposes.

Unless buyers (a few million of us -- or maybe just a couple of really adventurous billionaires) step forward, three of General Motors’ eight brands are now destined to join Oldsmobile in the history books. A fourth will be relegated to “niche” status, says GM. The company, until last year the world’s largest automaker, announced plans Tuesday that would drastically scale back its operations in order to stay alive.

Production of Saturn cars would stop in 2011 if the brand hasn’t been sold, GM said. Execs will decide whether to pull the plug on Hummer at the end of March, though rumors of Chinese interest have emerged (and been discounted) several times. The company says Saab will be an “independent business entity as of Jan. 1, 2010.” Take that to mean “dead” unless a reluctant Swedish government can be convinced to step in.

We had a 93 Saturn wagon. It was a very reliable, fuel efficient car. Sure, a chipmunk with emphysema would have provided more power than it's little engine, but so what? It did everything we asked of it...eventually.

Unfortunately the Saturn and I got into a head-on with a garbage truck one morning. The Saturn was totaled, I walked away completely unharmed and the garbage truck got the tiniest piece of red plastic embedded in it's front bumper. I would have gotten another one in a second, but by then GM had already folded Saturn back into their arms and it was now merely a re-branded Opel. Blech.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:16 AM | Comments (10)

February 17, 2009

Chimp Goes Ape

These things ain't pets

(CNN) -- A woman has been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a pet chimpanzee attacked her at a friend's home in Stamford, Connecticut, police said. Travis is shown in 2003, when he escaped and "wreaked havoc" on the streets of Stamford, Connecticut.

Charla Nash, 55, had just arrived at her friend Sandra Herold's house when the chimp, named Travis, jumped on her and began biting and mauling her, causing serious injuries to her face, neck and hands, according to Stamford Police Capt. Rich Conklin, who said the attack was unprovoked.

Herold had called Nash to her house to help get 14-year-old Travis back inside after he used a key to escape.

Wild animals are...wild animals.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:47 AM | Comments (11)

Japan's Finance Minister Gets Saki-ed

Oops! Sorry! Make that sacked

Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa has resigned, amid claims that he was drunk at a recent G7 meeting.

Mr Nakagawa said earlier that he would wait until parliament had approved a supplementary budget to step down.

But he brought forward his departure after calls for his immediate exit escalated.

...Footage showed Mr Nakagawa slurring his speech and closing his eyes repeatedly as if he was dozing off.

At one point, he mistook a question aimed at the governor of the Bank of Japan as one intended for him.

Frankly, getting completely trashed is a reasonable response to the economic policies of Japan and the US; hell, it's my preferred option.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:35 AM | Comments (9)

California Dreamin'

Well, maybe a better term is nightmare

Reporting from Sacramento -- With lawmakers still unable to deliver a budget after three days of intense negotiations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prepared to lay off 10,000 government workers and his administration said it would halt the last 275 state-funded public works projects still in operation.

The projects, which cost $3.8 billion and include upgrades to 18 bridges and roads in Los Angeles County to protect them from collapsing in earthquakes, had been allowed to continue as others were suspended because the state was running out of cash.

Remember how a few years ago everyone was all a gaga about Ahnuld, and how we should change the Constitution so he could become President? Puh-lease. Sadly, California is a mini version of where the US as a whole is heading due to complete financial negligence and treasury-raiding, done not to "help people" or any such blather but simply to win votes. It's disgusting, and the very reason why things at all levels of government are so screwed up.

This quote from this article sums it up perfectly

"It's unconscionable that we let this state go over the cliff," Adams said in an interview. "My job is to get the best possible deal for Republicans."

No, you corrupt little turd, your job, your duty, is to do the best possible thing, the right thing, for the citizens of your state; for it is for them that you 'serve,' not for your party.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: both Parties are now so horribly corrupt, so firmly ensconced that they only exist to keep themselves in power. If things are to change we need to start electing some independent folks to office to break this monopoly of power.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:20 AM | Comments (6)

February 15, 2009

Aw, Dagnabbit! I Never Realized

Is that really what he's been doing all this time?

...Chavez, who has been a decade in power spending freely on schools and clinics for the poor and opposing U.S. influence in Latin America, says he needs at least another 10 years for his revolution to take root in South America's top oil exporter.

Thinking only of widows, children and the poor.

I'm ashamed for being so judgemental.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:04 PM | Comments (4)

Today's Tie For Church

Our friends downunder still need our help.

Please help however you can.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:21 AM | Comments (3)

February 14, 2009

To All Our Swillers...

Yeah ~ you guys.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:30 AM | Comments (5)

They Got America Through The Last Depression

I'm counting on them getting us through the next

I wonder if they can also help me focus the camera...and get the dog off the couch.

I guess I can't expect miracles from Fred and Ginger.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:33 AM | Comments (6)

February 13, 2009

In Response to the Headline

...on HotAir...

Final stimulus vote in Senate imminent

...let us pray:

Oh, Lord [or insert your personal diety],
Let your miserable servants...Arlen, Susan and any other wishy-washy losers even THINKING about voting in the affirmative...grow a pair.
Amen

UPDATE: All for naught. The bastards sold the country out.

Damn.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:18 PM | Comments (6)

Australia Update

Tim has been to Victoria and met some of the folks who have lost their homes to these fires

To get a faint idea of how it must be for the suddenly homeless, just walk out your front door. Don’t look back. Now take complete stock of your earthly goods by simply adding up the clothes you’re wearing. You don’t even own a spare pair of socks.

Yet the mood around the tents is positive, even defiant. Everyone at Yea’s little tent city genuinely consider themselves among the lucky ones. And they are. Unlike some 300 others, they are alive.

This mood persists despite the shock of a few hours earlier, when Driscoll and his family (and the rest of Flowerdale’s evacuees) had been allowed for the first time to return to their homes.

Like we've been posting all week, please give what you can to the Australian Red Cross.

These are wonderful people, our best and steadiest friends in this world.

They need our help.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:17 PM

Senate Intelligence

Yes, it's still a contradiction in terms

Reporting from Washington -- A senior U.S. lawmaker said Thursday that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft operating in Pakistan are flown from an air base in that country, a revelation likely to embarrass the Pakistani government and complicate its counter-terrorism collaboration with the United States.

The disclosure by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, marked the first time a U.S. official had publicly commented on where the Predator aircraft patrolling Pakistan take off and land.

...Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, said Feinstein's comments put Pakistan's government on the spot.

"If accurate, what this says is that Pakistani involvement, or at least acquiescence, has been much more extensive than has previously been known," he said. "It puts the Pakistani government in a far more difficult position [in terms of] its credibility with its own people. Unfortunately it also has the potential to threaten Pakistani-American relations."

As chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Feinstein is privy to classified details of U.S. counter-terrorism efforts. The CIA does not publicly acknowledge a campaign against Pakistan-based extremists using remotely piloted planes, making Feinstein's comment all the more unusual.

Gosh, I feel so much better knowing that secret information is securely held in her hands.

(h/t to HotAir)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:57 AM | Comments (7)

Blame Canada!

Their goose is cookedcuisinarted

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Canada geese got into both engines of US Airways Flight 1549 and forced the plane to ditch into the Hudson River last month, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

The flight crew of the Airbus A320 put the plane down gently on the river, which separates New York from New Jersey, after the bird ingestion caused both engines to lose power on January 15. All 155 people aboard survived.

Adult Canada geese weigh between 5.8 and 10.7 pounds, although birds from resident populations rather than migratory populations can be heavier.

The plane's CFM56-5B/P turbofan engines were certified in 1996 as being able to withstand bird ingestion of 4 pounds.

This invasion of obese tuque-wearing avians must be stopped!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:32 AM

Gregg Wakes Up

Good for him

Sen. Judd Gregg abruptly withdrew his nomination as commerce secretary Thursday, telling Politico that he “couldn’t be Judd Gregg” and serve in Barack Obama’s Cabinet.

The White House — where some aides were caught off guard by the withdrawal — initially responded harshly to Gregg’s announcement, portraying the New Hampshire Republican as someone who sought the job and then had a “change of heart.”

Mee-owww. Getting a little testy, aren't we?

“Once it became clear after his nomination that Sen. Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Sen. Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways,” Gibbs said.

Maybe because his policies......suck? I'm just tossing that out, mind you.

And maybe he is objecting the the unconstitutional power grab by Rahm and Obama, as they seek to impose Chicago-Style machine politics on the US: the President has no business trying to grab control of the Census. The Census is clearly and unequivocally a function of the Legislative, not the Executive, Branch. Article 1, Section 2:

The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct.

Of course, this should be no surprise since our President is a "constitutional scholar" of the type who believes

But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical. It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as it's been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can't do to you. Says what the federal government can't do to you, but doesn't say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf.

Which is a gobsmacking inversion of the entire spirit and intent of the Constitution, which is to limit the naturally tyrannic impulses of every government. But I guess one can not expect this noted scholar to have read and understood the 10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

When he clearly has never even made it to the Second.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:49 AM | Comments (1)

February 12, 2009

Green Grid

And I'll drink to that!

Scotch drinkers who care for the climate will soon relish their tipple in the knowledge it is providing clean renewable power in the home of whiskey.

Scottish authorities have given planning permission for a consortium of distillers to build a biomass-fuelled combined heat and power plant near the heart of the whisky industry in Speyside in northeastern Scotland.

Helius Energy said on Wednesday it and the Combination of Rothes Distillers Ltd. would build the plant, which would use distillery by-products and wood chips to generate 7.2 megawatts of electricity, enough for about 9,000 homes, and heat.

Ah...um...those're BenRaich whiskey stills, they tell me.

I'm uncomfortable.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:33 PM | Comments (1)

Let the Trees Go Native, You Get Fire ~ Stop the Pollutants

...you get sharks?

...Most experts agree the cluster of attacks is a freak coincidence and say there is no evidence of an increase in the country's shark population. Nevertheless, some have argued that cleaner, nutrient-rich waters have boosted the animals' reproduction and drawn them into shallow waters.

Makes you wonder, don't it?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:28 PM | Comments (2)

A Convincing, Well Reasoned Stimulus Squandering Strategy

...since we're going boldly where no one has gone before, anyway.

...As a time- and effort-saving alternative, you could take all of those billions and set fire to them, like the Joker in The Dark Knight, or--let me suggest--you could invest them in a grand project, something that would employ thousands, lead to astounding technological breakthroughs, and solve a broad range of challenges facing us.

And I have just the thing.

It is time to build the Starship Enterprise.

Yes, I know what you're thinking: that could take a really long time.

Complete with plans, pie charts and phaser examples. And mini skirts, since "they're the future".

Hard to argue and we thank the Vodkapundit for pinpointing its exact location on the Star Charts.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:20 PM | Comments (1)

Word of the Day

At first I thought "stimulus" and that Mirriam-Webster had finally succumbed to social commentary. I was wrong. But a great word none the less.

slumgullion \SLUM-gull-yun\

noun

Meaning: a meat stew

"Slumgullion" may not sound like the most appetizing name for a dish, but that’s part of its charm. The word’s etymology doesn’t do it any favors: "slumgullion" is believed to be derived from "slum," an old word for "slime," and "gullion," an English dialectical term for "mud" or "cesspool." The earliest recorded usage of "slumgullion," in Mark Twain’s Roughing It (1872), refers not to a stew but a beverage. The sense referring to the stew debuted about two decades later, and while there is no consensus on exactly what kinds of ingredients are found in it, that’s the "slumgullion" that lives on today.

I think that covers the stimulus perfectly.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:10 PM | Comments (1)

Quote of the Day

"Don't worry, it won't smell like urine and will be tasty too"

I sh*t you not. If THIS is the "change" we've all been waiting for, I "hope" he's right...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:01 PM | Comments (2)

We Watched This on World News Tonight Last Night

...and, for reasons unfathomable, thought of Skyler immediately. I'm assuming it had nothing to do with the duct tape. {8^P

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:56 PM | Comments (4)

Happy Birthday Abe

Thank God you were there when we needed you.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:01 AM | Comments (5)

I Sense A Cabinet Appointment In His Future

He certainly has the credentials

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Pro golfer Jim Thorpe has been charged with failing to pay $1.6 million in federal taxes.

The charges filed Wednesday in federal court in Orlando accuse Thorpe of failing to pay taxes on income he earned in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

The charges allege that rather than pay his tax liabilities, Thorpe spent about $2 million on the construction of a new home and another $61,000 on a new vehicle.

The golfer's attorney says his client plans to plead not guilty. The attorney says Thorpe didn't willfully intend to violate the law.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:05 AM | Comments (2)

Quote Of The Day

When a political lightweight is out of his depth, he seeks to compensate by counterfeiting the certainty he is far from feeling. Obama's rantings in defence of his stimulus plan have assumed an apocalyptic intensity. Unless Congress agrees to flush almost $1 trillion of Joe Citizen's hard-earned bucks down the sanitation, "Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse."

So, America had better listen to the man who "screwed up" over Tom Daschle because he alone has the wisdom to extricate the US of A from financial disaster. The instrument of salvation is the biggest barrel of pork that the undeserving needy have ever seen in American history, from sea to shining sea. The financial crisis may seem complex, but the solution - the real solution - depends on one simple premise: tax cuts revive economies, handouts do not.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:21 AM | Comments (2)

Sounds Like The EU Needs...

...a tax cheat Treasury Secretary like we've got

“Estimates of total expected asset write-downs suggest that the budgetary costs – actual and contingent - of asset relief could be very large both in absolute terms and relative to GDP in member states,” the EC document, seen by The Daily Telegraph, cautioned.

"It is essential that government support through asset relief should not be on a scale that raises concern about over-indebtedness or financing problems.”

The secret 17-page paper was discussed by finance ministers, including the Chancellor Alistair Darling on Tuesday.

National leaders and EU officials share fears that a second bank bail-out in Europe will raise government borrowing at a time when investors - particularly those who lend money to European governments - have growing doubts over the ability of countries such as Spain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Britain to pay it back.

16.3 trillion pounds.

Ouch.

More here.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:09 AM

February 11, 2009

An Update To Sis' Post Below

Attacked by the Greens, guess whose house is still standing

THEY were labelled law breakers, fined $50,000 and left emotionally and financially drained.

But seven years after the Sheahans bulldozed trees to make a fire break — an act that got them dragged before a magistrate and penalised — they feel vindicated. Their house is one of the few in Reedy Creek still standing.

The Sheahans' 2004 court battle with the Mitchell Shire Council for illegally clearing trees to guard against fire, as well as their decision to stay at home and battle the weekend blaze, encapsulate two of the biggest issues arising from the bushfire tragedy.

...Although Liam Sheahan's 2002 decision to disregard planning laws and bulldoze 250 trees on his hilltop property hurt his family financially and emotionally, he believes it helped save them and their home on the weekend.

"The house is safe because we did all that," he said as he pointed out his kitchen window to the clear ground where tall gum trees once cast a shadow on his house.

"We have got proof right here. We are the only house standing in a two-kilometre area."

But the Greens care more about Gaia than people.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:25 PM | Comments (4)

I Think Somebody

...rates an answer free of Gorebal gibberish.

"We've lost two people in my family because you dickheads won't cut trees down"

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:35 PM | Comments (5)

In Other Words...

Like, whatever, Mr. President

..."I have no friggin' clue what to do but give me lots of money anyway"

"Our challenge is much greater today because the American people have lost faith in the leaders of our financial institutions, and are skeptical that their government has -- to this point -- used taxpayers' money in ways that will benefit them."

..."... I want to be candid: this comprehensive strategy will cost money, involve risk, and take time.

"We will have to adapt it as conditions change. We will have to try things we've never tried before. We will make mistakes. We will go through periods in which things get worse and progress is uneven or interrupted.

"But we will be guided by the principles of transparency and accountability...

And that, ultimately, we can still blame everything on Bush."

Stock up on beans and dry goods, folks.

It's going to be a long time before Spring comes.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:21 AM | Comments (9)

Australia Still Burning

Please continue to give what you can.

And keep reading Kae for updates (scroll about, she's got some great posts up).

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:00 AM

Who Says Jersey Ain't Got Class?

We've got a high-falutin' restaurant offering a "Special Valentine's Day Menu" for, er, $69 per head.

Ah, amor.

It's what's for dinner.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:25 AM | Comments (6)

February 10, 2009

'Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women’

You GO, girls!!!

...“Valentine’s Day is definitely not Indian Culture and we will not allow celebration of that day in any form.”

India's Minister for Women, Renuka Chowdhury, has called the Mangalore attack and other actions by the Sri Ram Sena a symptom of the "Talibanization" of India. The Sri Ram Sena, like the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, often takes justice into its own hands and prosecutes people according to its own cultural and religious beliefs.

“It is regressive and patriarchal like nothing else we’ve seen in a long time,” says Isha Manchanda, one of four young Indian women who have banded together to fight back — with pink panties.

They've got MY vote!!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:57 PM | Comments (2)

Gotta Love The Post

It's got to be fun working there

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:51 AM | Comments (6)

The Horror Continues

via Kae, the death toll is now pushing 200

Firefighters are battling 25 bushfires across Victoria, as the death toll rises to 181, making it the country's worst bushfire disaster.

Victorian Premier John Brumby says he expects the death toll from the disaster to exceed 200, with more than 50 people still missing, thought to be dead.

The blazes have burnt through more than 3,000 square kilometres - entire towns were wiped off the map within 24 hours at the weekend.

Please give what you can to our dear friends Downunder.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:46 AM

So The "Stimulus" Will Pass

Thanks to three Republicans who are fearful that we must do "something." Did you see that article in Bloomberg yesterday that totaled up the money spent so far?

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government’s commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90 percent of the nation’s home mortgages.

The Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have lent or spent almost $3 trillion over the past two years and pledged up to $5.7 trillion more. The Senate is to vote this week on an economic-stimulus measure of at least $780 billion. It would need to be reconciled with an $819 billion plan the House approved last month.

Only the stimulus bill to be approved this week, the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program passed four months ago and $168 billion in tax cuts and rebates enacted in 2008 have been voted on by lawmakers. The remaining $8 trillion is in lending programs and guarantees, almost all under the Fed and FDIC. Recipients’ names have not been disclosed.

Scary scary stuff. How dare we "Little People" question the Noted Tax Cheat at Treasury about where OUR money is going.

How is half of such a sum ever to be paid back? And so these 60s Generation Live For Today, Avoid Responsibility At All Costs Self-Centered asshats, these bastards, both in the business world and the government, have saddled our children with an enormous level of debt, one that will crush them for many many years.

And now we have this "stimulus" package which Obama declares

"The plan that we've put forward will save or create 3 million to 4 million jobs over the next two years."

Let's say it will be 4 million; hell, I'm feeling generous. $820 Billion for 4 million jobs. That's $205,000 per job. You want to really stimulate the economy? Pick four million names out of a hat and give each of them 200 grand, no government strings attached.

That will do a lot more for the economy than this dung heap will.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:29 AM | Comments (4)

February 09, 2009

The Headline Reads

Newsweek Plans Makeover to Fit a Smaller Audience

I've got a suggestion! How 'bout a Newsweek cover (for the first time in what seems like six months) that DOESN'T have Obama's mug on it? The WOULD be a refreshing change! Like, schmaybe, NEWSweek had finally moved on to NEWS vice IDOL WORSHIP. They've come completely unhinged and it's disturbing in the extreme. HOW extreme?

Put bug-eyed Nance hugging Harry the Cadaver on it and I WOULDN'T CARE.

...In the first half of 2008, the average Newsweek subscriber paid less than $25 a year, or 47 cents for each copy — less than one-tenth the $4.95 newsstand price. Newsweek wants to raise that average to $50 a year, Mr. Ascheim said, adding, “If you can’t get people to pay for what they love, we’re all out of business.”

FIFTY BUCKS??

Wave bye-bye, Mr. A$$cheim.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:32 AM | Comments (8)

That IS the Commonly Shouted Threat of Choice

...in most instances.

"My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."

Only in America ~ Land of the Free ~ would this even be in court.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:28 AM | Comments (16)

Inferno In Australia

***Please donate what you can to the Australian Red Cross. Sure, the economy sucks, but our dear friends in Australia have always been there for us; I'll be god-damned if I'm not going to step up for them.***

Via Tim, the news is just too horrible:

VICTORIA remains under a shroud of smoke and grief today with thousands homeless and at least 134 people dead after the worst bushfires in Australia's history.

Entire towns were wiped out in the weekend's fires, which the Prime Minister described as hell's fury unleashed.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has announced there will a Royal Commission into Victoria's devastating bushfires as the toll now tops 134 and is expected to rise considerably more.

At least 800 homes have been destroyed, more than 330,000ha burnt out and some fires may take weeks to contain.

An expert says the scale of the bushfire injuries is worse than those seen in the Bali bombing - and politicians are warned the Victorian bushfire death toll may double.

Potentially hundreds of people dead, dead, from these fires, fires which may in fact have been set

Victoria Police Deputy Chief Commissioner Kieran Walshe has said some of the fires are believed to have been deliberately lit, but would not say which ones.

A police spokeswoman said anyone found to have lit the fires would likely be charged with murder or manslaughter.

"They can be charged with murder, it depends on the evidence that comes to hand," the spokeswoman said.

"They could be charged with manslaughter or they could be charged with murder."

My mind just reels. What sort of vile, deranged animals could do such a thing?

Those poor, sweet wonderful people who have died such indescribably horrific deaths. I can not bear to look at the photos of the victims; it's too heart-rending.

Once again, please donate what you can to the Australian Red Cross.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:27 AM | Comments (8)

February 08, 2009

So, Our Senator ~ Bill Nelson ~ Talks to Chris Wallace This Morning

...and admits his phones have been deluged with calls that are running 7 to 1 AGAINST the stimulus.

7. To. 1.

So Wallace asks him "How do you justify to those constituents voting FOR the stimulus, when they so obviously are against it?"

"Well, first," he says, "You have to ask yourself 'is this an emergency?' And it is." Well, shut my ignorant mouth. I hadn't realized that.

How nice to be so much smarter than the average bear. Thanks for the "representation", bub.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:24 PM | Comments (6)

Saturday Ribeyes

Hmmm, what's a fellow to do with 4 1/2 pounds of ribeyes and only three humans?

I've got some beans simmering for a few hours and

go away!

I'll serve the beans over rice and maybe we'll

GO AWAY! NO!

have some collards greens and farofa and

oh ALRIGHT dang it mutt you can have half of one

Now will you let me eat in peace please?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:45 AM | Comments (7)

February 07, 2009

Sounds Like A Date With Eliot Spitzer

Senator Inhofe's description of the Generational Theft Act of 2009

"While I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues to bring down the price tag of this bill, the fact is we still face a trillion dollar spending bill. Making it worse, the bill is 93% spending and only 7% stimulation."

GTA 2009: making video games seem like bastions of reasonable behavior since 1/20/09.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:07 AM

February 06, 2009

"I Voted for Him. Now I'm Wondering..."

"I think I made the wrong decision."



Bless her heart. Even though I have no concept of the pain, good for her. That son of hers ~ all those daughters and sons ~ deserve justice. More importantly, they deserve the full support of the country in pursuit of that justice.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:12 PM | Comments (11)

Dear Teddy

Please show some respect for yourself, history and the TRUTH and demur with enthusiam when your 11th hour return to Washington to cast a vote ~ via Obamacon hyperbole ~ is converted to an epic journey the equal of Caesar Rodney's. 'Cause you know they will.

And you DAMN sure know it ain't.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:32 PM | Comments (1)

Right Now Watching the Octo Mom on World News Tonight

She's a whack job.

So happy we working types can help her breeding program.

Ebola Adds: "The only thing she's missing is the shoe to live in."

I think she's missing a good deal more than that...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:50 PM | Comments (5)

Go Figure

"Your call has been transferred.......

The mailbox for Senator Martinez is full. Goodbye."

I'll keep calling Mel the Mushroom and Bill Nelson any old way. Y'all oughta give your own critters a shot if you haven't already.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:47 PM | Comments (2)

Remind Me Again Why the U.N.

...is always screaming the Joos are the bad guys...?

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday it has halted all aid shipments into the Gaza Strip due to interference by the ruling Hamas militant group.

...Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:41 PM | Comments (1)

Allah Forbid That Your Ignorant, Brain-Washed Minions

...should actually be able to READ the religious ramblings.

...The book appeared among gifts left for the cleric at a major Kabul mosque after Friday prayers in September 2007. It was a translation of the Quran into one of Afghanistan's languages, with a note giving permission to reprint the text as long as it was distributed for free.

...But as some of the 1,000 copies made their way to conservative Muslim clerics in Kabul, whispers began, then an outcry.

Many clerics rejected the book because it did not include the original Arabic verses alongside the translation. It's a particularly sensitive detail for Muslims, who regard the Arabic Quran as words given directly by God. A translation is not considered a Quran itself, and a mistranslation could warp God's word.

...The country's powerful Islamic council issued an edict condemning the book.

"In all the mosques in Afghanistan, all the mullahs said, 'Zalmai is an infidel. He should be killed,'" Zalmai recounted as he sat outside the chief judge's chambers waiting for a recent hearing.

In the mullahs' defense*, translating the Bible into English got one old boy in a whale of a lot of trouble, even AFTER he died...

...With the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, Wycliffe produced dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river!

...the caveat being* that it wasn't last year ~ it was around 1380 A.D. .

You've got to love these Islamic know-it-all guys. It's like a constant loop of "Let's Do the Time Warp Again!"

I'd say "Groundhog Day", but that was funny and these a$$holes aren't. Ever.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:09 PM | Comments (4)

Man Smokes Pot

Gets booted by Tony The Tiger

Earlier Thursday, Kellogg Co. said it will not renew Phelps' advertising contract.

"Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg," company spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz said. "His contract expires at the end of February, and we have made a decision not to extend his contract."

Norwitz said Kellogg's relationship with Phelps began with the company's support of the U.S. Olympic team. Kellogg did not renew its sponsorship of the team when it expired in December, she said.

Man smokes pot and does cocaine, well he gets elected President.

Such is life in the U S of A these days.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:12 AM | Comments (21)

More Stimulating Stimulustude

Via Ace here's a handy list of more details about the beast that science calls Stimulantus Gigantus

$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts $380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program $300 million for grants to combat violence against women $2 billion for federal child-care block grants $6 billion for university building projects $15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships $4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24 $1 billion for community-development block grants $4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities” $650 million for digital-TV coupons; $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations” $15 billion for business-loss carry-backs $145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits $83 billion for the earned income credit $150 million for the Smithsonian $34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters $500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities $44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters $350 million for Agriculture Department computers $88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building $448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters $600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids $450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”) $600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”) $1 billion for the Census Bureau $89 billion for Medicaid $30 billion for COBRA insurance extension $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits $20 billion for food stamps $4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers $850 million for Amtrak $87 million for a polar icebreaking ship $1.7 billion for the National Park System $55 million for Historic Preservation Fund $7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs” $150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases $150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish” $2 billion for renewable-energy research ($400 million for global-warming research) $2 billion for a “clean coal” power plant in Illinois $6.2 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program $3.5 billion for energy-efficiency and conservation block grants $3.4 billion for the State Energy Program $200 million for state and local electric-transport projects $300 million for energy-efficient-appliance rebate programs $400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments $1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries $1.5 billion for green-technology loan guarantees $8 billion for innovative-technology loan-guarantee program $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects $4.5 billion for electricity grid $79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

If you've read more than 4 lines of the above than congratulations: You're read more of this Bill than most members of Congress!

My goodness, with all this Government-supplied stimulus no wonder the porn industry is feeling the pinch.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:24 AM | Comments (3)

De-Stimulated?

Well, certainly this stimulus disaster has slowed in the Senate, so let's hope the rising public opinion against it will finally kill it. I think it will be an unmitigated disaster. People are finally taking a serious look at the very similar approach that Japan tried in the mid 80s: the real estate market crashed, causing a massive economic downturn, the government slashed interest rates to near zero, and when that didn't work the government unleashed a massive spending/stimulus program.

In the end, say economists, it was not public works but an expensive cleanup of the debt-ridden banking system, combined with growing exports to China and the United States, that brought a close to Japan’s Lost Decade. This has led many to conclude that spending did little more than sink Japan deeply into debt, leaving an enormous tax burden for future generations.

In the United States, it has also led to calls in Congress, particularly by Republicans, not to repeat the errors of Japan’s failed economic stimulus. They argue that it makes more sense to cut taxes, and let people decide how to spend their own money, than for the government to decide how to invest public funds. Japan put more emphasis on increased spending than tax cuts during its slump, but ultimately did reduce consumption taxes to encourage consumer spending as well.

Economists tend to divide into two camps on the question of Japan’s infrastructure spending: those, many of them Americans like (noted tax cheat) Mr. Geithner, who think it did not go far enough; and those, many of them Japanese, who think it was a colossal waste.

Among ordinary Japanese, the spending is widely disparaged for having turned the nation into a public-works-based welfare state and making regional economies dependent on Tokyo for jobs.

Not that economists or noted tax cheats like Mr. Geithner give a rat's ass what ordinary citizens think about the plans, mind you; we exist solely to fund them.

When you look at the provisions of this monster, which of course one is most certainly not encouraged to do, one is overwhelmed by the naked rampant pork, and not in a good "the other white meat" sort of way. Unless my memory is failing, it seems to me that one of the reasons we're in this mess is that people racked up way to much debt, so of course it makes perfect sense that a Michigan Senator adds a provision to this beast to make the interest on car loans deductible. Stealth Auto Bailout, baby! It's a brilliant plan, actually: reduce reckless debt accumulation by making it cheaper.

But I don't expect this calm to last. There are too many Chicken Littles running about screaming that we "Have To Do Something!!!" and that something invariably means more government spending, more government regulation, more government intervention in more aspects of our lives.

We need drastic changes in how our government is run and in what we expect from it, but that requires us to vote for people who will cut it down to size, and to hold them accountable...and ourselves if we refuse to act against them.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:06 AM | Comments (1)

February 05, 2009

There're Ambulance Chasers, Guys Who Want the Boob Job Back And Then?

There's this guy.

The ex-husband of one of the nine people killed at a Christmas Eve party has been asked by a landlord to pay the dead woman's rent.

Broadcrest Foothill Apartment Homes claims Alicia Ortiz broke her lease and gave "insufficient notice to vacate."

Ortiz and her 17-year-old son were killed by her sister's disgruntled ex-husband.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:33 AM | Comments (8)

A Change I Can Agree With

Sure it's a populist sop (but I'm a populist sap), sure it's a ploy to distract attention from all the disastrous pork in the stimulus crap sammich', sure it's a ploy to distract attention from the complete laughable/cryable mess that is his nominees and their tax issues but I don't care; in fact, it doesn't go far enough in my book

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama took on bailed-out Wall Street firms on Wednesday, setting a $500,000 annual cap on pay for top executives at companies receiving taxpayer funds and tapping popular anger over financial sector excesses.

Obama said more measures would be outlined next week to overhaul the crisis-hit U.S. financial sector, which has been propped up with billions of dollars in public funds.

"This is America, we don't disparage wealth. ... What gets people upset, and rightfully so, is executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers," he said.

The president won support in Washington, with some Republicans who were critical of the financial sector bailout praising the move. But Wall Street critics said the compensation cap was a political gambit that could prompt a talent flight from affected firms.

Talent flight? Talent flight? You mean as in the same greedy bastards that in large part got us into this mess in the first place? That talent?

"This is pure political grandstanding. If the limit has bite, it will be counterproductive and the unintended consequences will hurt the U.S. as skilled and bright senior managers make choices," said David Kotok, chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors.

Yeah, like all those "skilled and bright senior managers" made choices like...giving Madoff all the money that they were supposedly investing with their Mad Money Skilz. Or all those skilled and bright choices they made with credit default swaps. Or all those bright and skilled choices they made with real estate trusts. Or all those bright and skilled choices they made with...

Screw

Them.

As I've said before many times, I am completely opposed to these bailouts, but since they are happening one clear provision should have been that the entire executive boards and boards of directors of these companies should have been FIRED before they got one single dime of taxpayer money. These creatures pissed away billions; they are not "valuable talent." They are incompetent losers and in many cases outright thieves.

We must STOP privatizing profits and publicizing losses, which is all this bailout mania has done so far.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:19 AM | Comments (12)

February 04, 2009

I'm Just Posting This So...

...I can watch ebola's head explode.

The Legal Standing of Climate Models

"Climate scientists have created a unique institutional system for assessing and improving models, going well beyond the usual system of peer review. Consequently, their conclusions should be entitled to considerable credence by courts and agencies."

( Burgeoning cloud of brain goo and skull fragments in 3...2...1... DUCK! )

It also helps ~ if you've a strong enough stomach ~ to read how thrilled the KoolAid drinkers were with the whole premise. A taste:

...These recent observations and measures of opinion motivate conversation, but they do not challenge the fundamental conclusions of climate change science. The Earth will warm, sea level will rise, and the weather will change. Yes there is natural variability, but we can definitively attribute much of the warming to the activities of humans. Majority opinion to the contrary does not make this less true. It is only a convenient belief that abrogates responsibility.

That's some stunning stuff, eh? The comments are worse, but I would be abrogating my responsibilities to the tender feelings of my consti'chency should I encourage such reading.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:40 PM | Comments (7)

Daddy Warmbucks

"There are some things about our world...that you know...that older people don't know."

- Photo - Beer and News

Schmaybe this whole "IGNORE YOUR IDIOT PARENTS" theme is why Lil' Al turned out to be such an upstanding citizen in his own right.

Explains a lot.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:30 AM | Comments (4)

Oh Good God

Just listen to this flippin' idiot

Reporting from Washington -- California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday.

In his first interview since taking office last month, the Nobel-prize-winning physicist offered some of the starkest comments yet on how seriously President Obama's cabinet views the threat of climate change, along with a detailed assessment of the administration's plans to combat it.

Chu warned of water shortages plaguing the West and Upper Midwest and particularly dire consequences for California, his home state, the nation's leading agricultural producer.

In a worst case, Chu said, up to 90% of the Sierra snowpack could disappear, all but eliminating a natural storage system for water vital to agriculture.

"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he said. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California." And, he added, "I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going" either.

The Sky is Falling!!!!!!

Oh, by the way

Chu is not a climate scientist. He won his Nobel for work trapping atoms with laser light.

But that doesn't matter: it's in the Government's interest to tell us we're all DOOMED so they can "do something" and expand their power even further.

So in a very real sense we are doomed.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:04 AM | Comments (2)

Ivan Fires Another Shot Across The One's Bow

The Bear growls, and the country whose name sounds like an angry growl jumps

CNN) -- The Kyrgyz government is planning to close a strategically important U.S. military base that Washington uses as a route for troops and supplies heading into Afghanistan, Russian media reported Tuesday. A U.S. troop guards the main access checkpoint to the Manas Air Base on December 18, 2008.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said Tuesday at a news conference in Moscow that "all due procedures" were being initiated to close Manas Air Base, the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

The announcement was made after news reports of a multimillion-dollar aid package from Russia to Kyrgyzstan.

... The United States pays about $63 million a year for use of the base and employs more than 320 Kyrgyz citizens there, Petraeus said. The base has been in operation since December 2001 under U.N. mandate

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Tuesday that Russia would offer Kyrgyzstan a $300 million, 40-year loan at an annual interest rate of 0.75 percent, and write off $180 million of Kyrgyz debt.

I'm just not feeling this new era of world-wide love for Obama and America that I was promised.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:58 AM | Comments (3)

February 03, 2009

More Gorebal Warmening, February 3rd, 2009

I could get used to this stuff.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:04 PM | Comments (9)

Cromarty Firth, August 22nd, 2006

The wreck of H.M.S. Natal

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:58 PM

Warms the Cockles of My Union-Hating Heart

...now don't it?

The United Steelworkers union on Tuesday said it reached a tentative agreement with a unit of Royal Dutch Shell...

...The move effectively averts a possible strike at facilities that handle the majority of the U.S.'s crude oil refining.

..."With the USW completely understanding the severe economic crisis the nation finds itself in, we certainly didn't want to contribute to the economic struggles of the American public by calling a national strike and possibly seeing the spiking of gas and diesel prices, home foreclosures of our members, or any other hardships," the union said.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:45 PM | Comments (4)

Well, There's A Shock!

I mean, really, who could have possibly predicted that the successful candidate for the most high pressure executive position in the world, a candidate who had no executive or managerial experience, would have trouble leading once he took office?

Never saw this one coming, no sirree.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:18 PM | Comments (9)

Fox Just Characterized Daschle's Withdrawal

...as "Emotional". Oh, I'll bet! Emotional as in:

"I'm out $140+ grand and now no job!"

Times're hard, dude.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:08 PM | Comments (7)

Hilarious

The highlowlights're laughable and enough to make you cry...

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
Like those insidious germoids causing the current Democratic "Alzheimered Muh Taxes" pandemic. STD = Smarmy Tax-dodging Democrats.

• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
Michael Phelps is signed as spokesman.

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
Leave 'em alone. If I could afford a drink, I'd join 'em.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
We can't have the flow of Washington sh*t impeded anywhere.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
Can't have sh*t flowing BACK up to the Hill

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
I think we've poured in enough "GREEN". Roof leak? If not, leave the f@ckin' things alone.

• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.
Modeled after the successful "Paris-youth" intervention programs developed by the always resouceful French.

• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Is that one of those trick phrases like "ethical Congress" or "transparent administration"?

• $850 million for Amtrak.
I misread that ~ I thought it said "an Ark" and I was all for it, as in:

"Pack 'em up and get them the f*ck OUTTA here, Lord!"

>

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:55 AM | Comments (1)

Is That A Squab In Your Pocket?

Or are you just happy to see me, Mate?

An Australian traveller was caught with two live pigeons stuffed down his trousers following a trip to the Middle East, customs officers said today. The 23-year-old man was searched after authorities discovered two eggs in a vitamin container in his luggage, said Richard Janeczko, national investigations manager for the Australian Customs Service.

They found the pigeons wrapped in padded envelopes and held to each of the man's legs with a pair of tights, according to the agency.

Officials also seized seeds in his money belt and an undeclared eggplant.

The bird smuggler, who arrived in Melbourne on Sunday on a flight from Dubai, is being questioned.

Judging by the photo

I'm guessing this guy is half Sasquatch.

I hate undeclared eggplants.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:51 AM | Comments (4)

No Bailout Moulah For The Mets

I'm thinking this is probably a wise move on ShCitigroup's part

Citigroup (C, news, msgs) is considering putting an end to its $400 million agreement for marketing the New York Mets, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The Mets' new stadium was due to be named after the bank, but the club could have to find a new moniker.

The reason for the bank's pullout is reportedly because Citigroup doesn't want to be seen as using government bailout funds to sell a baseball team. Citigroup, which has had total net losses of $28.5 billion since 2007, received $45 billion in bailout aid from the Treasury's Troubled Assets Relief Program last fall. The government also agreed to guarantee bad loans for the bank up to $301 billion.

With Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit due to appear before a House Committee next week to justify their use of the TARP funds, the bank's executives are reportedly not eager to explain the sponsorship deal with the Mets.

Although it must be said there are a lot of similarities between the Mets' collapse this Fall and the Banking Industry's...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:22 AM | Comments (2)

February 02, 2009

But Isn't That Kinda What "Live" Means?

You know ~ you put it out there knowing the risks?

...Minor said Hudson was very calm and prepared, and he counseled her to take the deep breath before she began so she could put herself in the moment. Although entertainers can perform live, Minor insisted that Hudson and Faith Hill, who sang "America the Beautiful" before the national anthem, use the tracks the NFL requires them to submit a week before the game.

"That's the right way to do it," Minor said. "There's too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance."

How could it possibly be a "great", "TOUCHDOWN", "AMAZING" performance if she just stood there and used the singing accomplished safely in her own studio weeks before?

Fakey, fakey. I'm sick of it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:18 AM | Comments (5)

Change You Can Believe In

Climate change, that is

Heavy snow has fallen across large parts of the UK, disrupting travel and closing hundreds of schools.

South-east England has the worst snow it has seen for 18 years, causing all London buses to be pulled from service and the closure of Heathrow's runways.

...The BBC Weather Centre said up to 6in (15cm) of snow fell overnight with more falling throughout the day and temperatures unlikely to get above 0C for the rest of the day.

Thousands of school children across England and Wales woke up to the news that their school was closed for the day.

All Surrey schools are closed, while in Essex, more than 450 shut and 255 Berkshire schools are closed. Leicestershire and Rutland gave pupils at 200 schools the day off.

Hundreds more are closed across Wales, London, north-east England, East and West Sussex, Kent, Norfolk Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Suffolk, where snow-ploughs were out on the county's roads for the first time in more than 15 years.

Almost makes me think the Goreacle must be in London...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:26 AM

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Everybody sing along!

UPDATE: 6 more weeks of Winter, friends.

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) - The world's most famous groundhog saw his shadow Monday morning, predicting this already long winter will last for six more weeks.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:00 AM | Comments (2)

February 01, 2009

Well, I'm Spittin' It Out

...when I get to the one stamped "BINGLEY WAS HERE".

Oh, I've known for a while about Obama's plan to Render the population into a green food-substance. I think I saw a documentary about it once.

But it won't be the terrorists. HOPELENT GREEN will be REPUBLICANS.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:40 PM | Comments (1)

Oh, Well.

Poo.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:13 PM | Comments (7)