Investor's Business Daily has an article about the Council on American-Islamic Relations and how the FBI is dropping all meetings with them because of their alleged illegal activities.
This, of course, reminded me of all the articles I read - mostly on the internet since the newspapers never seemed to pick this up - about the direct and indirect links between Obama and CAIR (Obama always seems to have such interesting friends).
Below is a quick list of links detailing the dirt. Just google Obama and CAIR and Kurtz, and you'll find tons yourself. Daniel Pipes is good too.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Is Obama Letting Folks Freeze To Death?
Obama is creating his own chilly Katrina in Tennesse by not sending FEMA to rescue thousands of people suffering in a freezing ice storm for the past five days.
Read all about it here and here.
UPDATE - Obama's FEMA useless and entire Kentucky National Guard called in - no help from Obama.
Read all about it here and here.
UPDATE - Obama's FEMA useless and entire Kentucky National Guard called in - no help from Obama.
No Need To Save The Rainforest
It is saving itself, according to this New York Times article about rainforest regrowth.
Two things.
One, it never ceases to amaze me that these gonzo-environmentalists believe that if you cut down a tree, nothing will ever grow back. Nonsense.
Two, while overall I think this article good, I do quibble with the premise "primeval rainforest" since the native South Americans like the Maya and the Incas and the Aztecs pretty much chopped down HUGE swathes of the rainforest when they built their astonishing civilizations. The current rainforest is secondary growth and what is growing back now is tertiary.
So the handwringing over whether the "new" rainforest is any "good" seems pretty petty and absurd and quite frankly, simply gonzo-environmentalists trying to protect their staked out claims.
Otherwise, a surprisingly good article from the NYT.
Two things.
One, it never ceases to amaze me that these gonzo-environmentalists believe that if you cut down a tree, nothing will ever grow back. Nonsense.
Two, while overall I think this article good, I do quibble with the premise "primeval rainforest" since the native South Americans like the Maya and the Incas and the Aztecs pretty much chopped down HUGE swathes of the rainforest when they built their astonishing civilizations. The current rainforest is secondary growth and what is growing back now is tertiary.
So the handwringing over whether the "new" rainforest is any "good" seems pretty petty and absurd and quite frankly, simply gonzo-environmentalists trying to protect their staked out claims.
Otherwise, a surprisingly good article from the NYT.
Voter ID Works
This article from the Wall Street Journal details how government issued IDs (driver's licenses) do not negatively impact voter turnout.
It is a lovely rebuttal to liberals who claimed it will and a compelling argument for all states to adopt Voter ID laws so that fraudlant voter activity (ala ACORN) will not rob our democracy of legitimacy.
It is a lovely rebuttal to liberals who claimed it will and a compelling argument for all states to adopt Voter ID laws so that fraudlant voter activity (ala ACORN) will not rob our democracy of legitimacy.
History Repeating
Conservatives by their very nature make it a point to know their history and traditions. Doing so preserves what works while making sure not to repeat the same mistakes again.
Thanks to socialist liberals, we are about to repeat history.
Back in the 1930s, the Smoot-Hawley Act, a tariff against foreign goods, was passed that immediately triggered tariffs against American goods further plummeting the American economy.
Did our "friends" in Congress and the White House, crack open their history books when they wrote up their pork-fat greasy stimulus bill.
No they did not.
Here's what the inestimable Mark Stein over at NRO has to say...
So I ask myself this, if all the conservatives are shouting that the same mistakes are being made and liberals choose to ignore them, are they insane?
I'll bet you know my answer.
Thanks to socialist liberals, we are about to repeat history.
Back in the 1930s, the Smoot-Hawley Act, a tariff against foreign goods, was passed that immediately triggered tariffs against American goods further plummeting the American economy.
Did our "friends" in Congress and the White House, crack open their history books when they wrote up their pork-fat greasy stimulus bill.
No they did not.
Here's what the inestimable Mark Stein over at NRO has to say...
And they’ve managed to goad the rest of the world into ending the Obama honeymoon in nothing flat. Headline from the London Daily Telegraph: “US-EU Trade War Looms As Barack Obama Bill Urges ‘Buy American.’ ”There is a famous axiom that defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over but always expecting a different result.
That would be the provision in the Senate bill prohibiting any foreign-made goods from being used in “stimulus” projects. So, if you own a rubber plantation in Malaysia and you’re hoping for a piece of Nancy Pelosi’s condom action, forget it. The EU trade commissioner is outraged at the swaggering cowboy Obama shooting from the hip and unilaterally banning European goods from American soil. But so are American companies such as General Electric. Bill Lane, an executive honcho with Caterpillar (the tenth biggest U.S. investor in the United Kingdom), says, “We are students of history. A major reason a very deep recession turned into the Great Depression was the fact that countries turned inward.” Ah, yes. The Buy American Act of 1933. How’d that work out?
So I ask myself this, if all the conservatives are shouting that the same mistakes are being made and liberals choose to ignore them, are they insane?
I'll bet you know my answer.
Another Dumb Executive Order
From Jonah at NRO....
Mickey Kaus reports that according to a new Obama executive order: "when a government service contract expires—and there's a new contract to perform the same services at the same location—the new contractor has to keep the old workers." Because, according to the White House:
The Federal Government's procurement interests in economy and efficiency are served when the successor contractor hires the predecessor's employees. A carryover work force reduces disruption to the delivery of services during the period of transition between contractors and provides the Federal Government the benefits of an experienced and trained work force that is familiar with the Federal Government's personnel, facilities, and requirements.
Mickey asks the key, though clearly irrelevant, question: "But what if the contract got switched because the previous work force, you know, sucked?"
Dude, that is so B.B. (Before Barack).
Tell Us What You Really Think Klaus
Having met the President of the Chech Republic last May when my husband's think tank honored him, I believe Viktor Klaus to be a very good man.
Jay Nordlinger interviewed him while attending Davos and published this account over at NRO. During his interview President Klaus called out Al Gore as a threat to freedom and pointed out that most regulations (most, not all) cause more harm than good. Don't hold back, Mr. President, please tell us what you think. Jay promises there will be more later....
Jay Nordlinger interviewed him while attending Davos and published this account over at NRO. During his interview President Klaus called out Al Gore as a threat to freedom and pointed out that most regulations (most, not all) cause more harm than good. Don't hold back, Mr. President, please tell us what you think. Jay promises there will be more later....
A group of us met this afternoon with Václav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, which has the presidency of the European Union at the moment.
I asked Klaus something about global warming: “Al Gore calls people who disagree with him ‘deniers.’ I heard him do this just yesterday, in the Congress Center.” (The main forum here in Davos.) “Some of us think that a parallel to Holocaust deniers is intended, or implied. What do you think?”
Klaus said, “Al Gore knows that I’m the most important ‘denier’ in the world. But he met with me here for two hours, and we had a normal, friendly discussion. I am a ‘denier,’ even if I dislike that term. I don’t think there is any global warming. I don’t see it in the statistical data.” (Klaus, incidentally, is a professional economist and statistician.) “I don’t believe in the results of the IPCC” (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
When it comes to the climate, “there are competing theories. I am sorry that people like Al Gore are not ready to listen to competing theories. I listen to what they have to say.”
Klaus has published a book called “Blue Planet in Green Shackles: What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?” Klaus told us that the answer is freedom — freedom is endangered — adding, “I imagine National Review would understand what I mean.” I replied, “Actually, there are differing views about global warming at National Review.”
Another journalist present said, “What freedom do you mean? What freedom is endangered?” Klaus pointed to her and said, “Yours, mine, [turning to the World Economic Forum representative] the moderator’s. The freedom of publications like National Review.”
A different journalist, with high-pitched indignation, said, “Are you saying that Al Gore is threatening freedom?” Klaus answered, “More or less. Global-warming alarmism is challenging our freedom, and Al Gore is a leader of that movement.”
About the international financial crisis, Klaus said, “I am more afraid of the ‘reforms’ that will result from the crisis than I am of the crisis itself. This crisis will be misused by politicians to constrain economies around the world. I’m afraid of the potential consequences of overactivity by politicians,” as those politicians “try to win votes by pretending that they are coming to the rescue.”
Klaus later said that, as a rule, “it’s difficult to make a good regulation” — a regulation that is helpful rather than harmful.
I will have more Klaus in the Davos Journal next week. By the way, is there a national leader today whom you respect more?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sneaking In Nationalized Healthcare
According to the Wall Street Journal, the stimulus package has clauses in it which would grotesquely expand government's role in US healthcare - essentially nationalizing America's healthcare system by stealth.
According to the New York Post, the stimulus package has clauses in it which would undo decades of welfare reform - essentially opening the cash floodgates allowing working taxpayer's money to go to nonworking, non-taxpaying folk.
Legislation by stealth is WRONG. BAD. AND EVIL. It is undemocratic and socialistic.
NO good will come of nationalized healthcare and limitless welfare benefits.
It Must Be Stopped.
Call your Senators and tell them to vote against the stimulus package.
According to the New York Post, the stimulus package has clauses in it which would undo decades of welfare reform - essentially opening the cash floodgates allowing working taxpayer's money to go to nonworking, non-taxpaying folk.
Legislation by stealth is WRONG. BAD. AND EVIL. It is undemocratic and socialistic.
NO good will come of nationalized healthcare and limitless welfare benefits.
It Must Be Stopped.
Call your Senators and tell them to vote against the stimulus package.
ALL Men Need This
PMSBuddy.com - an online service that alerts you when your lovely lady turns into a snarling... well you know what happens. 100,000 men worldwide can't be wrong.
Stem Cells and MS
Breitbart.com is reporting on an AFP article describing how stem cells are helping folks with early MS fight the disease. Since I have three friends and a stepmother with MS, this could be very good news!
"Sophie's Choice"
A woman has given birth to octuplets and already has 6 children making a total of 15.
Now, all the jerk liberals are asking why she didn't abort some of them.
How?
How could you choose which of your children would live and which would die?
Yes, 15 is a huge family but no one is asking you to raise the kids. Her family has zero impact on anyone but her family. And I totally understand why she chose to leave it in God's hands rather than murder her babies.
Now, all the jerk liberals are asking why she didn't abort some of them.
How?
How could you choose which of your children would live and which would die?
Yes, 15 is a huge family but no one is asking you to raise the kids. Her family has zero impact on anyone but her family. And I totally understand why she chose to leave it in God's hands rather than murder her babies.
Rewarded Not Punished
According to this news article,...
I don't really see how bringing down Fannie Mae could be all that bad.
A fired Fannie Mae contract worker pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges he planted a virus designed to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide, according to federal prosecutors.
If the virus had been released as planned on Saturday, the Justice Department said the disruption could have cost millions of dollars and shut down operations for a week at the largest U.S. mortgage finance company.
I don't really see how bringing down Fannie Mae could be all that bad.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Illegal Immigrant Loophole in Stimulus Plan
Just so you know, according to Breitbart.com, there is a loophole in the stimulus plan that allows anyone with a Taxpayer Identification Number to get a tax credit including nonresident aliens and illegal immigrants.
Reason number 52347520948 why this abomination should not be allowed to leave Congress - it is not a stimulus plan, it is a liberal/socialist's wet dream.
Reason number 52347520948 why this abomination should not be allowed to leave Congress - it is not a stimulus plan, it is a liberal/socialist's wet dream.
Pardon Me
Obama's buddy Bill Ayers is resurfacing again after a voluntary exile during the campaign season when their friendship was starting to be seen as a liability.
According to PajamaTV, Ayers is comparing his domestic terrorist acts to every single person who has ever served in the military. How's that for mental?
What I suspect is going to happen is Ayers is going to put his case forward repeatedly for a while and once they think it is safe, Obama will pardon him and his wife.
Be warned, be prepared, be disgusted.
According to PajamaTV, Ayers is comparing his domestic terrorist acts to every single person who has ever served in the military. How's that for mental?
What I suspect is going to happen is Ayers is going to put his case forward repeatedly for a while and once they think it is safe, Obama will pardon him and his wife.
Be warned, be prepared, be disgusted.
We the Taxpayers
This is a country Of the People, By the People, For the People and this country's government for the People is run on our taxes.
Let's face it, this country was founded by a tax revolt named The Boston Tea Party (and the other British tax acts).
So maybe it's time for a tax revolt. If Congress passes this insane stimulus package, let's not pay for it by not paying our taxes.
And if we all do it, the IRS will not be able to keep up. Plus, if caught, we'll have this for protection...
Let's face it, this country was founded by a tax revolt named The Boston Tea Party (and the other British tax acts).
So maybe it's time for a tax revolt. If Congress passes this insane stimulus package, let's not pay for it by not paying our taxes.
And if we all do it, the IRS will not be able to keep up. Plus, if caught, we'll have this for protection...
Rep. John Carter, a Texas Republican, sent out a press release earlier today about his innovative new bill:"Rangel Rule"All U.S. taxpayers would enjoy the same immunity from IRS penalties and interest as House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Obama Administration Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, if a bill introduced today by Congressman John Carter (R-TX) becomes law.
Carter, a former longtime Texas judge, today introduced the Rangel Rule Act of 2009, HR 735, which would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from charging penalties and interest on back taxes against U.S. citizens. Under the proposed law, any taxpayer who wrote “Rangel Rule” on their return when paying back taxes would be immune from penalties and interest.
More Ways to Crush The Economy
When Obama signs the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law today, he will be adding another crushing employment regulation on American businesses in the middle of a huge economic crisis.
I can't think of anything more stupid than this act (and I'm a chick) except for the stimulus package, FOCA, universal healthcare, ... Oh wait the entire liberal agenda is dumber than dirt.
Sorry. Not exactly high intellectualism on my part.
Then again I'm not a high intellectual.
I will say this is a rather silly hoop to jump through. Lily Ledbetter's lawsuit was struck down by the Supreme Court so creating a law based on her experiences is like just creating make-work for the Supreme Court once again. This bill is likely to be called unconstitutional the moment it is conceived.
God Willing.
I can't think of anything more stupid than this act (and I'm a chick) except for the stimulus package, FOCA, universal healthcare, ... Oh wait the entire liberal agenda is dumber than dirt.
Sorry. Not exactly high intellectualism on my part.
Then again I'm not a high intellectual.
I will say this is a rather silly hoop to jump through. Lily Ledbetter's lawsuit was struck down by the Supreme Court so creating a law based on her experiences is like just creating make-work for the Supreme Court once again. This bill is likely to be called unconstitutional the moment it is conceived.
God Willing.
Rasmussen Poll
According to Fox News right now at 9:55am on Thursday, January 29th, a Rasmussen Poll on the Stimulus plan says support has slipped to 42%.
46% of people are concerned that the government is doing too much.
57% believe tax cuts are good for the country, however if the plan only contained tax cuts, then support remains virtually the same at 43% of the people support the plan. (+/- 3% for all poll numbers)
The Fox News Rasmussen guy thinks that these numbers show that people have their doubts about the plan and the spending but want to give the president a change to prove himself.
That's all well and good, but why give the administration a chance to prove himself with $1,000,000,000,00, of our money?
Do we really need that National Endowment for the Arts to fund $4000,000,000 of crucifixes in urine?
46% of people are concerned that the government is doing too much.
57% believe tax cuts are good for the country, however if the plan only contained tax cuts, then support remains virtually the same at 43% of the people support the plan. (+/- 3% for all poll numbers)
The Fox News Rasmussen guy thinks that these numbers show that people have their doubts about the plan and the spending but want to give the president a change to prove himself.
That's all well and good, but why give the administration a chance to prove himself with $1,000,000,000,00, of our money?
Do we really need that National Endowment for the Arts to fund $4000,000,000 of crucifixes in urine?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Professor Scammington Takes On PETA
Well, not exactly. Look at this post from Professor Scammington and tell me what's wrong with that banner ad FAIL
Remember - read the post, then look at the BANNER AD.
Hilarious. Poor PETA.
Remember - read the post, then look at the BANNER AD.
Hilarious. Poor PETA.
Gas In Heaven Now
Survivors Of Gas Station Explosion Mourn Tragic Loss Of Gasoline
Yes, another Onion video. I just can't help it. They're yummy like potato chips.
Obama Derangement Syndrome
Just like liberals were accused of having Bush Derangement Syndrome, some are now saying that certain fringe conservatives are suffering Obama Derangement Syndrome. And yes, I can see that. Like the guy who claims Obama isn't a natural born citizen and therefore can't serve.
But I suspect that Obama Derangement Syndrome will become yet another liberal syndrome as now Obama is now deemed "too perfect" to make fun of.
That's right, the as-always-terrific GayPatriot takes a look at Joy Behar's comments on Larry King.
But I suspect that Obama Derangement Syndrome will become yet another liberal syndrome as now Obama is now deemed "too perfect" to make fun of.
That's right, the as-always-terrific GayPatriot takes a look at Joy Behar's comments on Larry King.
On Sunday night, while doing my cardio, I caught what appeared to be rebroadcast of an episode of Larry King Live. King asked The View’s Joy Behar why comedians didn’t make fun of the new president found it “hard for the comics to have fun with.” The comedienne replied that this prez was just too perfect.*UGH!
Can you imagine how the media would react if a conservative had chastised a comedian for making fun of former President George W. Bush because he was “too perfect” “kind of really perfect”?
Surprising Candor
The Jr. Senator from South Carolina, Jim DeMint, (and others) are speaking with real honesty in this article at the Business and Media Institute. One of the more satisfactory expressions is that of buyer's remorse regarding the bailout.
Can't Teach Old Media New Tricks
Although they keep trying to find new ways to pull the wool over our eyes.
No One Showed Up
My husband's coverage of the Gore hearing which no one watched...
Fox News mentioned Gore's testimony and so did CNN - neither news station appears to have mentioned the ice and snow that shut down most of the Greater Washington DC area, a weather occurance that frequently coincides with major Gore appearances.
Gore Hearing
It's an interesting indicator that Al Gore's testimony to the foreign relations committee is not being covered live by any of the news networks, including C-SPAN (except on its website). Yesterday's news? Interestingly enough, Gore's testimony was out-of-date in many ways. I liveblogged the event here until technical difficulties got in the way.
Fox News mentioned Gore's testimony and so did CNN - neither news station appears to have mentioned the ice and snow that shut down most of the Greater Washington DC area, a weather occurance that frequently coincides with major Gore appearances.
Anti-Holder Named For Fame
Only two Senators on the Judiciary Committee voted against the repugnant Eric Holder.
They are Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).
Send them a thank you for standing up against a really bad nomination.
UPDATE: ScreebDoorRepublic piles on with his Name and Shame.
They are Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).
Send them a thank you for standing up against a really bad nomination.
UPDATE: ScreebDoorRepublic piles on with his Name and Shame.
Actions not Words
This opinion piece in the Washington Times is accurate in talking about Obama's "brazen" statements of making himself a "blank slate" that others can project their opinions onto.
In other words, by deliberate vagueness, Obama is attempting to be all things to all people. I think Tony Blankley is right in that interpretation since Obama said it himself in his autobiography, "The Audacity of Hope".
I also think Mr. Blankley is wrong to only call out Obama on this. The best and only way to judge someone is to compare their words and their actions and see if they match up. But we, the People, weren't allowed to do that because the Press voluntarily suppressed that information.
The Press, too in love with Obama and their own sense of power, did not ask any hard questions. The Press did not do any real investigations (did journalist ever try to find the drug dealer that sold Obama the cocaine he specifically mentioned doing in his autobiography?). How many people know that Obama has smoked pot, snorted cocaine, and only quit smoking cigarettes while running for president?
The Press did not push for traditional items to be released - like college transcripts. Obama was editor of the Harvard Law Review but wrote nothing (?!) and none of his graduate thesis have been made available to the public.
The Press actively suppressed stories about Obama's known associates (ACORN, Ayers, assorted felons, the LA Times Video debacle), voting record (or lack thereof), and unsportsman-like behavior (scrubbing opponents off ballots via registration technicalities).
The Press did not think the American public deserved to know Obama's positions on subjects such as abortion (would allow abortion up to the due date), Infanticide (opposes offering medical comfort to babies born alive after botched abortions), taxes (was never forced to defend shifting statements), and healthcare (was never pressed to explain plans) to name a few.
Thanks to an infatuated Press, we have a president who is a complete cipher when you compare his words and his actions because he has so few actions to examine. No real voting record, no legal writings, no proposed legislation, no nothing.
At first glance.
However when you look deeper to what little there is - his autobiographies, his state senate voting record, his associations with ACORN, his connections to such unsavory folk as William Ayers and Rezko, his tiny stint as a US Senator - the hypocrisy is there. His words of hope and change clash with his actions of status quo and backscratching.
When a person's words and his actions do not mesh, then that person is a hypocrite at best and a liar at worst. Time will tell. Obama's goal was always the presidency. Now that he's reached it, perhaps his words and his actions will begin to line up. I hope so for the good of the country.
In other words, by deliberate vagueness, Obama is attempting to be all things to all people. I think Tony Blankley is right in that interpretation since Obama said it himself in his autobiography, "The Audacity of Hope".
President Obama is a beguiling but confounding figure. As he has said of himself: "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.” (”The Audacity of Hope.”) It is indeed audacious that he should proclaim this consciously disingenuous attribute. And, as one reads his inaugural address, it is hard not to conclude that it was shrewdly crafted to perpetuate such confusion.
Run-of-the-mill politicians try to hide their duplicity. Only the most gifted of that profession brag that they intend to confound and confuse the public. Such an effort is beyond ingenious - it is brazenly ingenuous.
I also think Mr. Blankley is wrong to only call out Obama on this. The best and only way to judge someone is to compare their words and their actions and see if they match up. But we, the People, weren't allowed to do that because the Press voluntarily suppressed that information.
The Press, too in love with Obama and their own sense of power, did not ask any hard questions. The Press did not do any real investigations (did journalist ever try to find the drug dealer that sold Obama the cocaine he specifically mentioned doing in his autobiography?). How many people know that Obama has smoked pot, snorted cocaine, and only quit smoking cigarettes while running for president?
The Press did not push for traditional items to be released - like college transcripts. Obama was editor of the Harvard Law Review but wrote nothing (?!) and none of his graduate thesis have been made available to the public.
The Press actively suppressed stories about Obama's known associates (ACORN, Ayers, assorted felons, the LA Times Video debacle), voting record (or lack thereof), and unsportsman-like behavior (scrubbing opponents off ballots via registration technicalities).
The Press did not think the American public deserved to know Obama's positions on subjects such as abortion (would allow abortion up to the due date), Infanticide (opposes offering medical comfort to babies born alive after botched abortions), taxes (was never forced to defend shifting statements), and healthcare (was never pressed to explain plans) to name a few.
Thanks to an infatuated Press, we have a president who is a complete cipher when you compare his words and his actions because he has so few actions to examine. No real voting record, no legal writings, no proposed legislation, no nothing.
At first glance.
However when you look deeper to what little there is - his autobiographies, his state senate voting record, his associations with ACORN, his connections to such unsavory folk as William Ayers and Rezko, his tiny stint as a US Senator - the hypocrisy is there. His words of hope and change clash with his actions of status quo and backscratching.
When a person's words and his actions do not mesh, then that person is a hypocrite at best and a liar at worst. Time will tell. Obama's goal was always the presidency. Now that he's reached it, perhaps his words and his actions will begin to line up. I hope so for the good of the country.
Petty Liberalism Kills Africans
Well, keeping in the liberal tradition of killing Africans via neglect (DDT Ban for example), Obama, with vindictive pettiness, requested the resignation of a man who has spent years saving Africans from AIDS.
Apparently Hope and Change means betrayal and a shocking lack of humanity.
During Obama's transition, Dr. Mark Dybul was initially asked to stay on as the coordinator of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for several months until a replacement could be found and confirmed. Because Dybul was the main architect of the program and one of its guiding visionaries, few were surprised by the offer. With Ambassador Randall Tobias, Dybul organized the most staggeringly successful foreign assistance effort since the Marshall Plan -- eventually helping support lifesaving AIDS therapy for more than 2 million people.
While I worked at the White House -- from 2001 to 2006 -- I saw Dybul combine the ability to build bipartisan consensus for PEPFAR on Capitol Hill with exceptional compassion for the victims of a cruel and wasting sickness. It mattered little to the Bush administration that Dybul was openly gay or that he had contributed to Democratic candidates in the past. He was recognized as a great humanitarian physician -- a man of faith and conscience -- almost universally respected among legislators, AIDS activists, foreign leaders and health experts. Almost.
A few radical "reproductive rights" groups -- the fringe of a fringe -- accused Dybul of advocating "abstinence only" programs in AIDS prevention. It was always a lie. Dybul consistently supported comprehensive prevention efforts that include abstinence, faithfulness and condom use -- the approach that African governments themselves developed. In fact, Dybul was sometimes attacked from the right for defending a broad definition of AIDS prevention, including programs to address prostitution and transgenerational sex. Over the years, PEPFAR distributed 2.2 billion condoms -- hardly an "abstinence only" approach.
By encouraging Dybul to stay until his successor was in place, the Obama administration displayed a generous spirit, as well as a practical concern for continuity in a vital program.
Then, the day after the inauguration, Dybul received a call asking him to submit his resignation and to leave by the end of the day. There was no chance to reassure demoralized staffers, or PEPFAR teams abroad, or the confused health ministers of other nations. The only people who seemed pleased were a few blogging extremists, one declaring, "Dybul Out: Thank you, Hillary!!!"
As in most political hit-and-run attacks, the perpetrator was not anxious to take credit. It seems unlikely to be Hillary Clinton herself -- Dybul's ultimate boss at the State Department -- who had not even been confirmed when Dybul received his call. But someone at State or the White House determined that sacrificing Dybul would appease a few vocal, liberal interest groups. One high-ranking Obama official admitted that the decision was "political." Yet the AIDS coordinator is not a typical political job, distributed as spoils, like some deputy assistant position at the Commerce Department. It involves directing a massive emergency operation to provide lifesaving drugs, through complex logistics, to some of the most distant places on Earth. And now that operation may be months without effective leadership -- undermining morale, complicating interagency cooperation, delaying new prevention initiatives and postponing budget decisions.
It is difficult to imagine what vision of public service could cause any Obama official to celebrate a victory by sabotaging a good man and a good cause. And it is difficult to conceive what political gain Obama has achieved. This type of captivity to extreme interests is precisely what has discredited Democrats so often in the past. It is a kind of politics with all the "newness" of a purge, all the "freshness" of a mugging.
Apparently Hope and Change means betrayal and a shocking lack of humanity.
25 Things I Would Do If I Ran The Country
And to be honest, I expect this from all conservatives too...
(And yes, I am reposting this because I feel it is a good list and because I want it to happen.)
In No Particular Order...
1) Education is a state right. Local property taxes pay for local schools. The Federal government should butt out, therefore I would abolish the department of education.
2) If the president has term limits so should all members of Congress. Our government was built on a system of checks and balances. There is a check on the office of the presidency which needs to be balanced by a check on the legislature. 3 terms in the House, 2 terms in the Senate offers a person a 24 year career in politics. That’s long enough.
3) Congress can no longer vote itself raises. Individual Senators and Representatives should appeal to their constituents for pay raises and have it put to a vote or referendum accordingly.
4) Line by line veto to eliminate pork.
5) Ditto Ear marks.
6) Emergency spending bills are only allowed during natural disasters or within 3 – 6 months of an aggressive attack on American soil or overseas bases. Otherwise, the department in question (I’m looking at you DoD) has to get the monies from its existing budget.
7) ALL laws passed must clearly state its intended effect/goal and a review of its effectiveness evaluated by an independent government office, the GAO, for instance after five years. If a law is found lacking by the specified measure, the law is automatically returned to Congress for review – either to be struck down or re-written to address its failures.
8) All government regulations – starting with ones governing business/energy/agriculture – that are over 20 years old must be examined by independent reviewers to determine if said regulation is a help or a hindrance to the business practice and the government’s ability to enforce the regulation. If it fails the test, the regulation is automatically negated.
9) Tax loopholes for individuals and corporations are closed.
10) Tax code must be streamlined until it can be printed on no more than 25 pages in 12pt Times New Roman font. Figure it out.
11) Any Federal agency that is a duplicate of a state function (excepting interstate issues) is automatically eliminated.
12) English is the official language of the United States of America.
13) Our borders are ours to control. All unauthorized entries into the US will be treated as a criminal offense. American citizenship will no longer be extended to children born in the US to illegal immigrant parents under the age of three. They and their parents will be returned to their country of origin where they may re-apply to enter the US.
14) Any business hiring illegal immigrants will face stiff fines and criminal charges.
15) Any persons using false identification will face criminal charges, restitution to the victim, and if illegal, expulsion from the US.
16) Moments of silence are re-instated in schools and government institutions. If you have to put your hand on a bible to swear the truth in court, then God is part of the government.
17) You are the person you chose to be. Victim-statuses in government law will be reviewed as objectively as possible to determine if it helps or hinders various classes of individuals from the handicapped to ethnic minorities to genders to sexual orientation.
18) All treaties between the US and foreign countries will be reviewed. Those deemed unfair to US interests will be renegotiated.
19) Modern developed countries have the ability to defend themselves. We will remove US troops from those countries (I'm looking at you Germany) and relocate to countries with greater need or return the troops home. Many of these overseas bases are now rewards for soldiers rather than actual deployments.
20) Independent reviews will be conducted of every government department starting with the Department of Defense with the intent of eliminating waste and redundancy.
21) Soldiers and government civilians should be making equal pay and receive equal pensions. Saleries either drop or rise but soldiers and civilian workers across all departments of the federal government will be equalized.
22) If you bring a lawsuit to court and you lose, you must pay the defendant’s legal fees.
23) We’re building more nuclear power plants, drilling off shore, and drilling in Alaska. Get over it, we need the energy. The money from taxing the positive economic growth caused by abundant energy can go to research to develop realistic and affordable new energy sources.
24) All government subsidies to corporations and businesses will be reviewed and most likely stopped. The taxpayer should only pay for the goods and services they buy directly. Subsidies are forced gifts from the taxpayer to well-represented-by-lobbies corporations (sugar lobby) via the government. It is theft, wrong and largely unnecessary.
25) Any charity that makes more than $50 million in donations a year, loses its tax-exempt status and is shifted into a slightly progressive taxation rate. (Income from investments, etc. doesn’t count.) Donations to the charity are still tax-exempt, just the charity's total income is taxed. Any charity caught funneling its donations into other charities or shell companies to hide its income will be shut down.
(And yes, I am reposting this because I feel it is a good list and because I want it to happen.)
In No Particular Order...
1) Education is a state right. Local property taxes pay for local schools. The Federal government should butt out, therefore I would abolish the department of education.
2) If the president has term limits so should all members of Congress. Our government was built on a system of checks and balances. There is a check on the office of the presidency which needs to be balanced by a check on the legislature. 3 terms in the House, 2 terms in the Senate offers a person a 24 year career in politics. That’s long enough.
3) Congress can no longer vote itself raises. Individual Senators and Representatives should appeal to their constituents for pay raises and have it put to a vote or referendum accordingly.
4) Line by line veto to eliminate pork.
5) Ditto Ear marks.
6) Emergency spending bills are only allowed during natural disasters or within 3 – 6 months of an aggressive attack on American soil or overseas bases. Otherwise, the department in question (I’m looking at you DoD) has to get the monies from its existing budget.
7) ALL laws passed must clearly state its intended effect/goal and a review of its effectiveness evaluated by an independent government office, the GAO, for instance after five years. If a law is found lacking by the specified measure, the law is automatically returned to Congress for review – either to be struck down or re-written to address its failures.
8) All government regulations – starting with ones governing business/energy/agriculture – that are over 20 years old must be examined by independent reviewers to determine if said regulation is a help or a hindrance to the business practice and the government’s ability to enforce the regulation. If it fails the test, the regulation is automatically negated.
9) Tax loopholes for individuals and corporations are closed.
10) Tax code must be streamlined until it can be printed on no more than 25 pages in 12pt Times New Roman font. Figure it out.
11) Any Federal agency that is a duplicate of a state function (excepting interstate issues) is automatically eliminated.
12) English is the official language of the United States of America.
13) Our borders are ours to control. All unauthorized entries into the US will be treated as a criminal offense. American citizenship will no longer be extended to children born in the US to illegal immigrant parents under the age of three. They and their parents will be returned to their country of origin where they may re-apply to enter the US.
14) Any business hiring illegal immigrants will face stiff fines and criminal charges.
15) Any persons using false identification will face criminal charges, restitution to the victim, and if illegal, expulsion from the US.
16) Moments of silence are re-instated in schools and government institutions. If you have to put your hand on a bible to swear the truth in court, then God is part of the government.
17) You are the person you chose to be. Victim-statuses in government law will be reviewed as objectively as possible to determine if it helps or hinders various classes of individuals from the handicapped to ethnic minorities to genders to sexual orientation.
18) All treaties between the US and foreign countries will be reviewed. Those deemed unfair to US interests will be renegotiated.
19) Modern developed countries have the ability to defend themselves. We will remove US troops from those countries (I'm looking at you Germany) and relocate to countries with greater need or return the troops home. Many of these overseas bases are now rewards for soldiers rather than actual deployments.
20) Independent reviews will be conducted of every government department starting with the Department of Defense with the intent of eliminating waste and redundancy.
21) Soldiers and government civilians should be making equal pay and receive equal pensions. Saleries either drop or rise but soldiers and civilian workers across all departments of the federal government will be equalized.
22) If you bring a lawsuit to court and you lose, you must pay the defendant’s legal fees.
23) We’re building more nuclear power plants, drilling off shore, and drilling in Alaska. Get over it, we need the energy. The money from taxing the positive economic growth caused by abundant energy can go to research to develop realistic and affordable new energy sources.
24) All government subsidies to corporations and businesses will be reviewed and most likely stopped. The taxpayer should only pay for the goods and services they buy directly. Subsidies are forced gifts from the taxpayer to well-represented-by-lobbies corporations (sugar lobby) via the government. It is theft, wrong and largely unnecessary.
25) Any charity that makes more than $50 million in donations a year, loses its tax-exempt status and is shifted into a slightly progressive taxation rate. (Income from investments, etc. doesn’t count.) Donations to the charity are still tax-exempt, just the charity's total income is taxed. Any charity caught funneling its donations into other charities or shell companies to hide its income will be shut down.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tradition is Good and Realistic
A surprising opinion column from the New York Times about the importance of tradition, respect, and the reality of institutional thinking vs. individualism.
Excellent points all.
Excellent points all.
An Excellent Question
Thomas Sowell askes what exactly are liberal politicians buying with this stimulus nonsense?
Name and Shame - GOP
Copied in full from NRO because it had to be. Name and Shame those spineless fools.
GOP for Tax Cheats Running IRS [Andy McCarthy]
For the record (with thanks to Michelle Malkin), here are the ten Republican senators who think it is just fine to have a guy who violates the tax laws policing how American citizens comply with the tax laws—an incongruity we should overlook because Geithner's done such a great job so far addressing the financial meltdown:
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Ensign (R-NV)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Voinovich (R-OH)
On to the stimulus package!
On The Other Side Of The Pond
Posts from my husband on NRO - The Corner about Old Blimey....
Re: Let's Stop Calling It The Stimulus [Iain Murray]
I note my friends at the Heritage Foundation are calling it the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Debt Plan, which seems pretty reasonable to me.
As for Progressive, Andy, I think the best word is "lefty." After all, while in the UK certain people are talking about "progressive conservatism" again (groan), at least some have the honesty to term it "red toryism."
>"Progressive Conservatism" [Iain Murray]
I note my friends at the Heritage Foundation are calling it the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Debt Plan, which seems pretty reasonable to me.
As for Progressive, Andy, I think the best word is "lefty." After all, while in the UK certain people are talking about "progressive conservatism" again (groan), at least some have the honesty to term it "red toryism."
Wretched, isn't it?
According to the latest poll data, the Tories are headed for a strong majority, but given that after the financial crisis broke, Gordon Brown's poll rating went up so much he actually wiped out a 20-point Tory lead, it's hard to say what would happen in a general election campaign. It's not implausible to see Cameron doing a Neil Kinnock*.
At least part of the reason for the so-called Brown Bounce was that the Tories had a very timid economic policy, essentially saying "We'll do what Brown does, but we'll be nicer about it." When the crisis came, they really hadn't got a leg to stand on, and they just let Brown blame the crisis on Thatcher and America, despite the fact that Labour has been in power for 11 years, rather than advancing a strongly conservative alternative.
So Cameron's current tactic is to say that he's Britain's Obama, because the symbol of change in Britain is an Eton- and Oxford-educated PR man, who is the grandson of a Baronet and married to the daughter of another one. To say I find this approach frustrating is an understatement.
*Yes, the one the Vice-President plagiarized his speeches from.
Keep an eye on the bastards
The Majority Tracker is a new website by Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann showing what legislative highjinks the democrats are up to and what republicans would have done differently (not necessarily always better, just differently).
This one is going on my blogroll.
This one is going on my blogroll.
The Californication of Energy
The post below is by my husband over at NRO - The Corner
Thanks to the esteemed Henry Waxman inserting a provision about "decoupling" into the borrow-and-spend/debt/European social model bill, energy consumers face paying the same for less energy. Jonathan Tolman has the full story. This is horrible.
Just One Minute
I like this website. I especially enjoyed their savage fisking of Paul Krugman.
The ending is just ooey-gooey fisking goodness....
Oh, I am chewing that up.
The ending is just ooey-gooey fisking goodness....
LIBERTARIAN CORONARY ALERT: Krugman's column continues with this howler:Next, write off anyone who asserts that it’s always better to cut taxes than to increase government spending because taxpayers, not bureaucrats, are the best judges of how to spend their money.
Here’s how to think about this argument: it implies that we should shut down the air traffic control system. After all, that system is paid for with fees on air tickets — and surely it would be better to let the flying public keep its money rather than hand it over to government bureaucrats. If that would mean lots of midair collisions, hey, stuff happens.
Well, the idea that tax cuts are *always" better is pretty bold, since corner solutions are rarely optimal. That said, what an absurd example - is it really inconceivable that a private system of air control could develop in the absence of a Federal government? The current system might well be more efficient that a private alternative but the notion that only the Feds stand between the flying public and frequent collisions is daft. But let me make a more forceful case for tax cuts, relying in this newly-developed Krug-logic: anyone who thinks that Federal spending is more efficient than tax cuts believes that the entire private system of restaurants and diners should be closed down in favor of government-run cafeterias located in every Post Office. Yeah! Chew on that!
Oh, I am chewing that up.
BigHollywood's Environmental Advice
I think I whole-heartedly agree with all 10 of these Go-Green tips for Hollywood Insiders from BigHollywood.com.
I especially like ...
If you need a laugh, you'll get it there!
I especially like ...
5. Don’t Reproduce. Many people are shocked when they learn that fewer than 25% of the Screen Actors Guild have been spayed or neutered. Sure, babies make great fashion accessories and it’s fun to give them awesome names, like Kumquat Wildebeest Paltrow and Toploader Enchilada Cage. But these miniature humans will eventually grow up and begin ravenously eating up the Earth’s depleted reserves of aux pairs and psychotherapists.
If you need a laugh, you'll get it there!
Garbage In, Garbage Out
Whenever a new environmental "study" comes out, like this one here from the NOAA, I always read very carefully where the source information is.
Because if the "scientist" is basing their findings on computer models, then the study is basically trash. Garbage in, garbage out.
Why do I say that? Because no computer simulation of Earth's climate has ever correctly replicated a historic weather pattern. What do I mean? Well, we know fairly precisely what the global climate was say in the 1980s. If the computer model programs were accurate, then all a "scientist" would have to do is put in the known data collected from the 1980s and the computer simulation would duplicate it.
But no computer simulation or model has ever even achieved this basic task because the scientists still don't fully understand how clouds function in the atmosphere, let alone how the ocean (70%+ of the earth's surface) impacts climate.
And they know they don't know it too - if you look at the article I linked to above, it only mentions "models" buried at the very end of the article. At the beginning, the article uses words like "scientific study", "pioneering study" and "findings" to cover up for the fact that since this article is discussing the climate's future, it must run computer simulations (aka computer models). While much data can be real and factual, a computer simulation is not scientific proof.
Don't believe me? Ask yourself this, if the accuracy of weather predictions breaks down 10 days out, why should you believe that "scientists" can predict what the global climate will be 100 years from now - or even 1,000 years as this study claims?
Because if the "scientist" is basing their findings on computer models, then the study is basically trash. Garbage in, garbage out.
Why do I say that? Because no computer simulation of Earth's climate has ever correctly replicated a historic weather pattern. What do I mean? Well, we know fairly precisely what the global climate was say in the 1980s. If the computer model programs were accurate, then all a "scientist" would have to do is put in the known data collected from the 1980s and the computer simulation would duplicate it.
But no computer simulation or model has ever even achieved this basic task because the scientists still don't fully understand how clouds function in the atmosphere, let alone how the ocean (70%+ of the earth's surface) impacts climate.
And they know they don't know it too - if you look at the article I linked to above, it only mentions "models" buried at the very end of the article. At the beginning, the article uses words like "scientific study", "pioneering study" and "findings" to cover up for the fact that since this article is discussing the climate's future, it must run computer simulations (aka computer models). While much data can be real and factual, a computer simulation is not scientific proof.
Don't believe me? Ask yourself this, if the accuracy of weather predictions breaks down 10 days out, why should you believe that "scientists" can predict what the global climate will be 100 years from now - or even 1,000 years as this study claims?
End Farm Subsidies
reason.tv has a great video explaining why farm subsidies started in the 1930s as a "temporary solution" are bad, bad, bad.
I'm so glad they also called the sugar lobby out because those jerks are nasty.
By the way, check out this reason.tv video on why corn for fuel is idiotic.
Consider these facts. Ninety percent of all subsidies go to just five crops: corn, rice, cotton, wheat, and soybeans. Two thirds of all farm products—including perishable fruits and vegetables—receive almost no subsidies. And just 10 percent of recipients receive 75 percent of all subsidies. A program intended to be a “temporary solution” has become one of our government’s most glaring examples of corporate welfare.
I'm so glad they also called the sugar lobby out because those jerks are nasty.
By the way, check out this reason.tv video on why corn for fuel is idiotic.
Stifling Dissent
Obama tells politicians to put aside politics in order to pass the (un)stimulus bill.
What arrogance!
This is the classic liberal double-speak where they say things "let's put aside politics" in order to shut down honest debate. Let's face it, politics is not petty. Politics is the discussion and debate over what means best achieve an end.
This is America, we have the inalienable right to debate what's best for our county. Telling the "loyal opposition" they should shut up, is not leadership, it is bullying.
What arrogance!
This is the classic liberal double-speak where they say things "let's put aside politics" in order to shut down honest debate. Let's face it, politics is not petty. Politics is the discussion and debate over what means best achieve an end.
This is America, we have the inalienable right to debate what's best for our county. Telling the "loyal opposition" they should shut up, is not leadership, it is bullying.
Obama and The Senate Don't Get It
Rush Limbaugh is right. Conservatives WANT the Senate republicans to stand up to Obama. To grow a spine. Telling Rush to back off is ignoring their base and it will come back to bite them.
He may be meeting with conservatives in Congress but I urge them not to believe a word he says.
Obama may be meeting conservatives a bit by throwing out certain liberal agenda programs from the un-stimulating "stimulus" package, but that doesn't mean he isn't goal oriented. These bits of social-liberal agenda pork shouldn't be in an economic package in the first place.
And speaking of unspeakable earmarks for the liberal/socialists, what the hell is spending for the felonious ACORN doing in the stimulus package. Looks like blatent vote purchasing to me.
This stimulus package must fail. It is nothing less than funding of liberal socialism in America. Far more intelligent stimulus ideas are out there which do not need to be funded by American taxpayers. Ideas like a payroll tax holiday or reducing regulations on small businesses or forcing big companies to go into bankrupcy so they are forced to responsibly restructure their organization rather than live off of our tax money.
US News and World Report piles on with an anti-stimulus piece called "10 Reasons to Whack Obama's Stimulus Plan." Lots of really good and reasonable objections in there.
And of course, there are these riduculous new CAFE regulations being imposed bu Obama on the struggling US automotive companies. That's real Harvard brains you've got there, Obama. Put huge and stupid EPA regulations on a major industry (aka employer) already struggling to keep afloat. Real Harvard brains.
This guy gets it however the good Senator from Tennesse
He may be meeting with conservatives in Congress but I urge them not to believe a word he says.
Obama may be meeting conservatives a bit by throwing out certain liberal agenda programs from the un-stimulating "stimulus" package, but that doesn't mean he isn't goal oriented. These bits of social-liberal agenda pork shouldn't be in an economic package in the first place.
And speaking of unspeakable earmarks for the liberal/socialists, what the hell is spending for the felonious ACORN doing in the stimulus package. Looks like blatent vote purchasing to me.
This stimulus package must fail. It is nothing less than funding of liberal socialism in America. Far more intelligent stimulus ideas are out there which do not need to be funded by American taxpayers. Ideas like a payroll tax holiday or reducing regulations on small businesses or forcing big companies to go into bankrupcy so they are forced to responsibly restructure their organization rather than live off of our tax money.
US News and World Report piles on with an anti-stimulus piece called "10 Reasons to Whack Obama's Stimulus Plan." Lots of really good and reasonable objections in there.
And of course, there are these riduculous new CAFE regulations being imposed bu Obama on the struggling US automotive companies. That's real Harvard brains you've got there, Obama. Put huge and stupid EPA regulations on a major industry (aka employer) already struggling to keep afloat. Real Harvard brains.
This guy gets it however the good Senator from Tennesse
First TV interview and it is with an arab tv station. Look's like Obama is finally owning up to his muslim upbringing (formerly taboo during the election).
Does anyone else remember Obama saying, "My muslim faith" during an interview with Geroge Stephanapolis and George having to correcting him with "you mean your Christian faith"? You don't - here it is...
Perhaps Obama is more than one "first". Truly an affirmative action presidency.
Does anyone else remember Obama saying, "My muslim faith" during an interview with Geroge Stephanapolis and George having to correcting him with "you mean your Christian faith"? You don't - here it is...
Perhaps Obama is more than one "first". Truly an affirmative action presidency.
Cato by the way
In addition to the video below, Daniel Mitchell of CATO also has a great clip on how the Keynesian economic theory behind this stimulus package is wrong, wrong, wrong.
You're gettin an education here.
You're gettin an education here.
Cato Calls Out Obama
In the video below, Daniel Mitchell (from the libertarian think tank CATO) explains just how this stimulus package from Obama will NOT work and is bad for the American people. He makes a lot of good points, especially since this is the socialist history of failure repeating itself.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Calling for Names
Let's Stop Calling It the Stimulus
[by my husband and posted at NRO]
[by my husband and posted at NRO]
Further to my last post, I agree with others who've been saying we should stop calling the current pork bill a "stimulus" package. It stimulates only the Swiss bank accounts of the well-connected (all right, that may be over the top, but not by much). More accurately, it's a borrow-and-spend package or a tax-our-children-and-spend package. Other ideas welcome.
An Agenda For Congress
Posted at NRO by my husband.
If you're looking for an alternative to the various so-called stimulus packages floating around, check out CEI's Agenda for Congress, launched today. It presents a veritable smorgasbord of policy ideas aimed at growing the economy, advancing freedom and not-costing-the-taxpayer-a-dime. Remember: a philanthropist is someone who spends his own money to advance his version of Utopia. A socialist is someone who spends your money to advance his version of Utopia.
The Real Roe and Doe
The Boston Globe as an honest look at what Roe and Doe have wrought. Who'd have thought it?
Jay Nordlinger's Mail
Over at NRO, Jay Nordlinger published some bits of his readers mail - I particularly liked this.
Something humorous out of the military—specifically, out of our troops in Afghanistan: I received a list saying, “You may be a Taliban if . . .”—and here were three of the answers:
You refine heroin for a living but have a moral objection to beer.
You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launchers but can’t afford shoes.
You wipe your hiney with your bare left hand but consider bacon unclean.
Anyway, got a real kick out of those . . .
Boy Down
Will try to blog later but I am a mother first.
My youngest is ill with a nasty cough and I am furious because the FDA no longer sanctions the use of many OTC cold medicines for children under 6 years old.
One year it is okay, then next I have to watch my child suffer for some ridiculous precautionary principle dingus scientist.
Some idiot with no children of his own is telling me I have to watch my child cough until he vomits because of some slight chance a medicine might do more harm than good.
I have to give my kid honey and humidifiers instead of proper medicine that worked on my older child because some regulation-happy pencil-necked geek.
(Yes, I said dingus.)
My baby is ill and I am feeling a tad Mother-Bear-Ferocious right now.
My youngest is ill with a nasty cough and I am furious because the FDA no longer sanctions the use of many OTC cold medicines for children under 6 years old.
One year it is okay, then next I have to watch my child suffer for some ridiculous precautionary principle dingus scientist.
Some idiot with no children of his own is telling me I have to watch my child cough until he vomits because of some slight chance a medicine might do more harm than good.
I have to give my kid honey and humidifiers instead of proper medicine that worked on my older child because some regulation-happy pencil-necked geek.
(Yes, I said dingus.)
My baby is ill and I am feeling a tad Mother-Bear-Ferocious right now.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
What I tell my kids
As a mother, I have a few things I repeatedly tell my children.
I think we should say these things to our politicians as well.
"People shout when they think they aren't being heard."
"If you have to say you are sorry, then it's too late. You've already done something wrong."
"Better to do something slow and right, then fast and wrong."
"Life is a journey, not a race. If you go to fast, you'll miss stuff."
"Being good is as important as being right. Best to be both whenever possible."
"Doing what is good, makes you feel good. Doing something bad, makes your feel bad."
"Your mother is your boss forever."
I think we should say these things to our politicians as well.
"People shout when they think they aren't being heard."
"If you have to say you are sorry, then it's too late. You've already done something wrong."
"Better to do something slow and right, then fast and wrong."
"Life is a journey, not a race. If you go to fast, you'll miss stuff."
"Being good is as important as being right. Best to be both whenever possible."
"Doing what is good, makes you feel good. Doing something bad, makes your feel bad."
"Your mother is your boss forever."
Fisk Job
I'm too tired to do it but read this Opinion in the New York Times and simply get overwhiled by how much you could fisk it.
I may come back to this dross later but my kids are at a neighbors and I want a nap.
I may come back to this dross later but my kids are at a neighbors and I want a nap.
From TigerHawk
This was interesting enough to me to just copy it in full. Check out TigerHawk too.
In the middle of Evan Thomas' insidery campaign book, A Long Time Coming, there is a section on early conflict between John McCain and Barack Obama in the Senate, even before Obama was openly running for president. I thought this bit was interesting for more than one reason:Obama further aliented McCain on the immigration issue. McCain took great political risks on immigration, defying the GOP faithful who wanted to build a wall across the Mexican border and arrest and detain illegal immigrants. Working with Ted Kennedy and a bipartisan group, McCain came up with compromise legislation to create a guest-worker program. Obama asked to join the group. The senators agreed to hang together to vote against amendments from both the right and the left. Some very conservative senators honored the agreement, voting against conservative amendments -- but Obama did not, voting in favor of a number of liberal amendments. After one meeting, Kennedy chewed Obama out for his fickleness. (Months later, asked by a colleague why he had endorsed Obama for president, Kennedy gave a one-word answer: "Caroline.")
Without reading too much into this anecdote, on immigration, at least, Barack Obama took care of his base and John McCain did not, and his base included Caroline Kennedy. She must indeed be a little bitter about now.
John Stossel's Cry For Sanity
In his article at The Weekly Standard titled, This Is No Time To Panic, the great John Stossel calls for measured thinking rather than crisis-mode panic.
I especially like his closing...
I especially like his closing...
Of course some of those companies would fail, and suddenly letting that happen is a political no-no. When the automakers came to Washington to beg, Nancy Pelosi said, "We reject those advocating bankruptcy." Why? Bankruptcy can be a good thing. Kmart declared bankruptcy in 2002, but it didn't disappear. Filing for bankruptcy allowed the company to reorganize itself and reemerge stronger.
George W. Bush told CNN, "I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system." Why did Bush and Pelosi think they knew how to run the economy? F.A. Hayek famously termed this the "fatal conceit"--governments can't possibly know everything that's going on in an economy, and so while government intervention may delay some economic pain, it cannot stop it.
"The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled," said Cicero in 55 B.C. He was right.
Eating Their Young
The mainstream media must be starving because they are eating their young.
Howard Kurtz of CNN has called MSNBC, "The Obama Network" as reported by newsbusters.com.
We conservatives have been pointing out liberal bias in the mainstream news for years and years and years. Now one middle-left news outlet is calling a far-left news outlet out on its bias. You have to laugh.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Howard Kurtz of CNN has called MSNBC, "The Obama Network" as reported by newsbusters.com.
We conservatives have been pointing out liberal bias in the mainstream news for years and years and years. Now one middle-left news outlet is calling a far-left news outlet out on its bias. You have to laugh.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
False Pretenses
BigTentDemocrat over at talkleft.com has posted his opinion on Obama's "ban on lobbyists". He calls it phony.
He's pretty right on that.
He's pretty right on that.
Affirmative Action President
Is Obama a victim of the media's affirmative action? By filling a quota rather than properly vetting Obama, Americans have received a leader who has neither the experience nor maturity to handle the position he has been put in.
Only time will show if I am right and if Obama will be able to rapidly meet the demands of office.
Given current performance levels, I'm pretty sure I am right.
Only time will show if I am right and if Obama will be able to rapidly meet the demands of office.
Given current performance levels, I'm pretty sure I am right.
Crazy Liberal Bias
Read this article from WTOP radio about titled "Coal Plant Becomes Issue in VA gov. Race" and spot the unbelievable liberal bias.
Did you read it?
Did you see the mention of the three democrats listed as running for Governor?
Was Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, the only republican running mentioned at all?
Outragreous. It is as if they are pretending there isn't a challenger from another party,
Damn liberals.
Did you read it?
Did you see the mention of the three democrats listed as running for Governor?
Was Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, the only republican running mentioned at all?
Outragreous. It is as if they are pretending there isn't a challenger from another party,
Damn liberals.
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