Say It Ain't So, Joe!

Sorry, but executive power to "shut down" the Internet sounds suspiciously like executive power to suspend the First Ammendment. The First Ammendment in the 21st Century IS the Internet and giving the "off switch" to ANY President smells very bad:

The federal government would have “absolute power” to shut down the Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Joe Lieberman, legislation which would hand President Obama a figurative “kill switch” to seize control of the world wide web in response to a Homeland Security directive.

Lieberman has been pushing for government regulation of the Internet for years under the guise of cybersecurity, but this new bill goes even further in handing emergency powers over to the feds which could be used to silence free speech under the pretext of a national emergency.

“The legislation says that companies such as broadband providers, search engines or software firms that the US Government selects “shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed” by the Department of Homeland Security. Anyone failing to comply would be fined,” reports ZDNet’s Declan McCullagh.

The 197-page bill (PDF) is entitled Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, or PCNAA.

Technology lobbying group TechAmerica warned that the legislation created “the potential for absolute power,” while the Center for Democracy and Technology worried that the bill’s emergency powers “include authority to shut down or limit internet traffic on private systems.”

The bill has the vehement support of Senator Jay Rockefeller, who last year asked during a congressional hearing, “Would it had been better if we’d have never invented the Internet?” while fearmongering about cyber-terrorists preparing attacks.

The largest Internet-based corporations are seemingly happy with the bill, primarily because it contains language that will give them immunity from civil lawsuits and also reimburse them for any costs incurred if the Internet is shut down for a period of time.

“If there’s an “incident related to a cyber vulnerability” after the President has declared an emergency and the affected company has followed federal standards, plaintiffs’ lawyers cannot collect damages for economic harm. And if the harm is caused by an emergency order from the Feds, not only does the possibility of damages virtually disappear, but the US Treasury will even pick up the private company’s tab,” writes McCullagh.

The Internet has become the prime medium of free speech; allowing a ANY president the ability close this spigot is unthinkable.

Chris Cristie: I Like The Way This Guy Thinks!

This is the new Governor of NJ. While he's talking specifically about the teacher's union, what he's saying is applicable to unions, in general.

A Definitive Guide to Tatoo Locations

Heh, found this on the web. It's funny, but true.

Tatoos, once the territory of sailors, longshoremen, and common thugs have now gone mainstream and are quite fashionable. Back in the 70s when I was in the Navy, a lot of guys got the "Zig-Zag Man" tatooed on their forearm. I often wonder how many of them, on the golf course with clients think "hmmm, not the best decision I've ever made". Me? I never got one and have never regretted that decision.

I did get my ear pierced, but if I ever tire of it, the little hole will grow back. Tatoos? They're forever. Have you ever seen an old guy with a tatoo he got when he was in the service that, over the decades, turned into an indistinguishable blob that looks like a bad birthmark? That's you in 30-40 years; think about it.

The White House's Oily "If" Defense

The oil from the BP spill is not only washing up on the shores of the Gulf coast, it's also making its way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. While he seems, after nearly two months now, President Obama and his team are still clueless as to how to cutail the befoulment of our coast, he most certainly has developed a plan for his own protection.

President Obama has been in office for 18 months now, more than 1/3 of his elected term. Even with all his overblown rhetoric about "the buck stops here"; when the buck arrives, he seems reluctant to accept it and grasps for a way to blame it on the Republicans:

President Barack Obama said Friday that some members of Congress are being hypocritical when it comes to blaming the White House for its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In an interview with POLITICO, the president said: “I think it’s fair to say, if six months ago, before this spill had happened, I had gone up to Congress and I had said we need to crack down a lot harder on oil companies and we need to spend more money on technology to respond in case of a catastrophic spill, there are folks up there, who will not be named, who would have said this is classic, big-government overregulation and wasteful spending.”
The president also implied that anti-big government types such as tea party activists were being hypocritical on the issue.

“Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying ‘do something’ are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much,” Obama said. “Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms.”

The fact is that IF he had proposed money for technology to repond to a catastrphic spill, or tighter oversight with regard to the safety of offshore drilling on U.S. Government property (which is where this rig is, or was, located), it would have been well within the purview of the Government to do so. The fact is that he DIDN'T; it was never on his radar and it's disingenuous for him to retoactively blame his political opponants for a reaction that he feels they would have had toward a proposal that was never made.

BP, as is the case with all large corporations, has a lobbying team and a Political Action Committee. Over the past 20 years, who has been the largest recipient of their political donations? Was it George W. Bush? Dick Cheney? Was it even one of those "evil-in-the-back-pocket-of-big-oil-Republicans"? Actually, no; it was Barack Obama:

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

So, as Obama searches for an "ass to kick", perhaps that ass is as close as the nearest mirror....

An Interesting Policy Juxtaposition on a Nuclear Iran

The Saudis seem to be clearly concerned about a nuclear-armed Iran, even to the point of allowing the IAF airspace for a strike:

Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran. To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert.

“The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way,” said a US defence source in the area. “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department.”

On the other hand, our own administration seems reluctant to even enforce sanctions:

White House works to ease Iran proposal in Congress

The Obama administration fears tough U.S. sanctions against companies doing business in Iran would anger foreign allies.

Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration, which labored for months to impose tough new United Nations sanctions against Iran, now is pushing in the opposite direction against Congress as it crafts U.S. sanctions that the White House fears may go too far.

Administration officials have begun negotiations with congressional leaders, who are working on versions of House and Senate bills that would punish companies that sell refined petroleum products to Iran or help the country's oil industry.

Unlike the U.N. measures, congressional action would pertain only to U.S. policies and agencies and would not be binding on other countries. Other countries and groups of nations also are considering adopting measures to augment the U.N. action.

While I have no illusions of noble intentions on the part of the Saudis, I have even fewer regarding our own administration. If the president cannot take a firm stand against a nuclear-armed Islamic terrorist state, against what will he take a firm stand?

Sanctions are a mild response to a threat as the one represented by Iran, and the president cannot even muster the fortitude to do even that. The vaccuum of leadership becomes more evident by the day and continues to erode our standing on the world stage.

Keeping it Classy?

While I'm certainly no prig, and have been known to use salty language in select company, I also think there is a boundary of propriety between public statements or interview answers and being mistakenly being caught off guard. This clearly crossed that boundary. While it's not necessarily abject profanity, it erodes the dignity that should be part of the presidency and rings paricularly hollow given the profound lack of meaningful action taken by the president during this crisis.

"Ass kicking" won't solve the problem; leadership, and a credible course of action will. This well has been gushing oil for going on two months, and the administration still seems to be in a quandry as to what course to take - this is simply unacceptable.

The Taxman

We can laugh now, but we'll all pay pay later. I say take your laughs when you can get them.

A pretty nice piece of work; kudos to the creator.

"The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc"

Let us remember that on this day, 66 years ago, one of the most breathtaking displays of courage in history took place as Allied forces began to lift the veil of darkness that had descended upon Europe. I can think of no better commemoration of this day than Ronald Reagan's Normandy speech in 1984.

These men saved our world, and their deed should be forever remembered.

Where Is The Outrage?

Helen Thomas has long been a fixture in the White House Press Corps; the reason for which has never been quite clear to me. She's less a journalist than a hateful Leftist attack dog who seems to always get a pass on her outrageous statements, simply due to her longevity.

As the Left becomes more antisemitic by the day, Helen gives voice to what is really on their collective mind:

"All Gave Some, and Some Gave All"

Let us never forget that these markers represent the sacrifices made over generations to ensure that the United States will forever remain the standard by which societies are judged.

May God bless those who layed down their lives for that which we hold dear.

The Democrats Fiddle as America Burns

During the Barack Obama campaign, he pledged to "fundamentally change America" and that pledge, alas, is one that he has kept. He, in concert with his willing accomplices in Congress have increased spending, and debt, to levels that were heretofore unimaginable.

The sad truth is that we likely have understated just how dire our economic situation is, and will become.

Here's a good piece about the coming debt iceberg that involves our newly acquired government-owned auto companies.

Key graph:

Make no mistake, these companies are still on life support. The CBO expects that the lion's share of the government's losses on TARP will come, not from anything the Bush administration did, but from the Obama administration's decision to bail out the automakers and to a lesser extent, its bailout of homeowners. It seems that a big chunk of our cost may come from picking up the gold plated pensions . . . "Cadillac Plans", if you will . . . of the automakers. And lest you think I'm picking on unions over management, it was management that used the UAW as a prop to extract these gargantuan sums from the pockets of innocent taxpayers.

And if that's not enough, here's an article about how several states have fared with their state-run health care plans.

Key graphs:

Defenders of the program argue that it's not really a budget buster because the state's budget was already in trouble. But for those worried about ObamaCare's potential effects on the federal budget, that's hardly comforting. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has warned that, without significant change, the U.S. fiscal situation is "unsustainable," with publicly held debt likely to reach a potentially destabilizing 90 percent of GDP by 2020. Democrats managed to get the CBO to score ObamaCare as a net reduction in the deficit, but those projections are tremendously uncertain at best. As Alan Greenspan warned last weekend, if the CBO's estimates are wrong, the consequences could be "severe".

The history of health coverage expansion should make us worry. If ObamaCare's actual fiscal effects look anything like previous efforts to expand health coverage, the federal budget is in for a world of hurt.

This is irresponsible government spending on such a massive scale that there simply is no historical precedent. “Trillions” have supplanted “Billions”, even as unemployment continues to rise.

What we are seeing is no less political malpractice, and those that have brought us to this point seem oblivious to the mortal wound that may well have inflicted upon the economic health of our republic.

We are being destroyed from within, and being made increasingly more vulnerable from without.

Personally, I look to the future with mounting dread.

A Bit of This, A Bit of That.....

You may want to scratch Dubai for that romantic getaway..
Dubai jail sentence upheld for UK kissing couple

Hey Mr. President, did you ever hear the saying that "brevity is the soul of wit"?
Obama's 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman's claim of being 'over-taxed'

I guess that "Community of Nations" thing isn't working; is there a "Plan B"?
World pressure makes Iran more determined: Ahmadinejad

"What did you know and when did you know it?". Eventually everyone will face the "Congressional Inquisition". Hey, if they keep grilling others, maybe it will keep the spotlight off of them. Not only is it Bush's fault, now it's Clinton's fault, too!
Rubin and Greenspan face crisis inquiry

Good News: We have a 90% Employment Rate, and this will continue for some time!
White House braces unemployed for slow job rebound

Maybe that "Happiest Place on Earth" thing didn't include Paris.
Disney resort hit by staff suicides

Happy Easter!

As humans, we always know what we want, but seldom do we know what we need; that’s God’s department. Often we are given what He knows we need and oft these things are challenges given us to make us better people, to teach us humility and to strengthen our charater. Often we believe that God has forsaken us, but we emerge with the knowledge that those challenges and misfortunes have changed us for the better and were blessings in disguise.

So, let us all do our best to live as He has taught us. In the end though, let us not be too specific about that for which we pray. Let us pray for what we need, and leave the specifics in His hands.

Can We "Keep It"?

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Dr. James McHenry, a Maryland delegate, followed Benjamin Franklin from Independence Hall. He recorded a question asked by a lady, directed at Dr. Franklin.

The lady asked, “Well Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”

“A republic,” replied Dr. Franklin, “if you can keep it.”

Indeed. The stuggle to keep it will be the most difficult challenge we have faced since the Civil War. Our enemy is an intoxicating ideology, foreign to the American experience, that is being embraced by those who purport to represent us. Extricating this cancer will not be easy and may shake the very foundations of our republic.

Many of us have forgotten what liberty is; they have confused it with freedom. Liberty assumes that individuals take responsibility, and that responsibility guarantees our freedom. When we turn over our responsibility to the government, we lose our freedom.

Need for Screed

[Screed mode ON]

For far too long, The U.S. has walked around with a “kick me” sign firmly affixed to our back. Our good and charitable nature has been turned into a weapon that is being used against us. People come into this country and suck up jobs, welfare and medical care, then they turn on us and complain about our customs and culture, then substitute their own and expect us to accept it. Some of these people have raped and murdered our citizens!

It’s far more serious in Israel where Arabs are not only Israeli citizens, but also serve on the Knesset! Yet, their fellow Arabs continue to attack and murder Israeli citizens, and have done so for decades.

The good people of this world continue to get screwed, murdered and maimed, while the evil continue to perpetrate their violence and use their perverted sense of “justice” to explain it away.

Israel is an oasis of democracy, surrounded by apocalyptic madmen, clueless oil tics and a variety of societally and emotionally stunted Mohammedans who will never accept responsibility for their own plight, and whose answer to every challenge is murder.

As for the U.S.; we’re bordered to the north by a bizarre social experiment whose people and government seem oblivious to the fact that their very existence and continued survival is a direct result of their proximity to the U.S. On our southern border lies a country that’s increasingly looking like Columbia in the 80s, exponentially increased in both size and population.

As for the “International Community”, particularly under the auspices of the UN, well, they make the bar scene from Star Wars look like a suburban McDonalds.

The concept of “good” and “bad” has been lost in the toxic fog we call “political correctness” and a perverted sense of victimization perpetrated by the international Left.

“Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue and extremism in defense of liberty is no vice”. It was true back in the 60s, and it’s still true today.

Let’s get the “kick me” sign off of our backs, stand with our friends, and obliterate our foes!

[Screed mode OFF]

But There Is Some Good News Out There!

Obama 'Even Worse' Than Bush On Secret Wiretapping Case, Says S.F. Lawyer

San Francisco attorney Jon Eisenberg thinks he's learned a thing or two about Barack Obama over the past 15 months. Eisenberg, who won a landmark decision against the government in Northern California's U.S. District Court Wednesday on a wiretapping case, says that when it comes to violating civil liberties in the name of national security, the present occupant of the White House is just as bad as -- or "even worse" than -- his predecessor.

"The Obama Administration stepped right into the shoes of the Bush Administration, on national security generally and on this case in particular," Eisenberg said, referring to the lawsuit brought by his clients, an Oregon branch of an Islamic charity and two American lawyers. The plaintiffs argued successfully before federal Judge Vaughn Walker that their conversations were illegally wiretapped under the Bush Administration's secret surveillance program.

Just as significant as the ruling, however, may be what the case demonstrates about the Obama Justice Department's approach to surveillance of suspected terrorists. Eisenberg told SF Weekly that government lawyers working for Obama had been "more strident" than those working for Bush, refusing to let him see important federal documents related to the case even after he was approved for a top-secret security clearance.

"Even though I have the security clearance, I don't have the 'need to know,' so I can't see anything," Eisenberg said. "This is Obama. Obama! Mr. Transparency! Mr. Change! It's exactly what Bush would have done."

Well, amidst a plethora of bad news, that seems to worsen by the day, Obama's annoyance of this type of individual does serve as good news. At least on this point, and at this point, Obama has taken the Hippocratic approach and has "done no harm".

Yet.

Defending My Generation

I read a number of blogs, and there seems to be concerns, as well as not so veiled insults hurled at the “Boomers”. As one of those "Boomers", I would like to take this opportunity to address them.

Our parents grew up in The Depression and many spent their young adulthood literally “saving the world for democracy” during World War II. Personally, both of my parents served in the military, but due credit should be given to all of those who supported “the war effort”; the women in the factories, those who bought “War Bonds”, those who dutifully endured rationing of practically everything in support of the effort.

Having done their duty, the came home, married, and made babies, lots of them. Homes were constructed throughout the country as a result.

Our parents created an economic boom, and may of my generation grew up with parents who were determined that we would not be forced to endure the hardships that were an integral part of their formative years.

The “Baby Boom” generation was a large lump of humanity deposited in American society. When we went to school, new schools were constructed throughout the country, many of which have now been either demolished or recycled for other uses.

When we became young adults, our very numbers attracted attention; Madison Avenue catered to our styles, and television catered to our watching habits.

Politically, many of us had opinions. These opinions were largely formed by the prosperity in which we were raised. “Spoiled”? Absolutely. The problem was that people actually started to listen to us; we, who had been raised in an idyllic society, bought and paid for by our parents’ sacrifices, a generation who spouted foolish statements, and rebelled against what is now recognized as “the Greatest Generation” became a political force simply by virtue of our sheer numbers.

We came to “change the world’, and change it we did. My generation spawned an era of permissiveness and “open mindedness” that now threatens the very foundations of our country.

Those said, let us not forget the fact that a number of my generation served their country in Vietnam and many died in that service. Let us also not forget that the Neo-Con movement that was largely responsible for the election of Ronald Reagan is part of this generation. Let us not forget that the moguls of Silicon Valley, who have been intrinsic to the economy we enjoyed in the 80s and 90s, were also part of this generation.

Most importantly, let us not forget that this great swath of people we call “Baby Boomers” who have worked and paid their taxes for some 40-50 years now have, to a large extent, financed such programs as Social Security during that time. The politicians were quite content in taking our money, and chose to ignore the quite obvious fact that, eventually, we would retire and the bill would come due.

Now that many of us are in the situation of looming retirement, health issues, etc., we are considered “a problem”. Many of us, me included, find ourselves unemployed and are told that the retirement age may have to be raised. Sorry, but I didn’t pay into Social Security in order for it to fund ADC, AFDC, Welfare, and all of the various “Social(ist) Programs” that it is now funding. The bulk of the “Boomers’” money has been used to fund a plethora of Social(ist) programs in order to buy the votes of people who, for generations now, have been “dependants of the system”.

In closing, those of you who want to engage in “inter-generational warfare”, you should understand that you’re next.

In the Bill: Viagra for Sex Offenders

Not only that, the Democrats intend to leave it there.

Dems reject amendment to ban Viagra for sex offenders

Democrats killed an amendment by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn to prevent the newly created insurance exchanges from using federal money to cover Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs for rapists, pedophiles and other sex offenders. The amendment failed 57-42

"The vast majority of Americans don't want their taxpayer dollars paying for this kind of drug for those kind of people," Coburn said.

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus urged his colleagues to defeat the amendment.

"This is a serious bill. This is a serious debate. The amendment offered by the senator from Oklahoma makes a mockery of the Senate, the debate and the American people. It is not a serious amendment. It is a crass political stunt aimed at making 30-second commercials, not public policy," he said.

Democrats have defeated every amendment offered by Republicans so far, arguing that any change will kill the bill.

Hmmm. It would seen to me that the Federal Government paying for sex offenders' Viagra is pretty "serious" business and anyone who calls it otherwise is a bit of a fool.

Is Obama's "Socialism" Now in the Open?

So sayeth Al Sharpton. Do you believe that "The American public overwhelmingly voted for Socialism when they elected President Obama"?

Hey Democrats, This Can Apply to You Too!

Disclaimer: Lest anyone think this is a call for armed revolt; understand that this is presented metaphorically, not literally as it applies to members of the Democrat Party.

This disclaimer excludes the "boot in the ass" line; that's quite literal.

Health Care Post-Mortem

Aside from the assult on our freedom, and our Constitution represented by this bill, it’s also and economy killer and a job killer.

The more money being represented by government spending, is less money in the private sector, which is where the fate of the economy really lies. The government can’t bring more money into the economy, as the private sector can, it can only remove it.

So, what about these “Government Jobs”? (Disclaimer, my wife works for the Federal Government) Well, suppose, just for argument’s sake, you have a government job, paying $40K and your taxes, again, for argument’s sake are 15%. In essence, you are paying the government back $6K, but where does the other $32K come from? It comes from the private sector in the form of corporate and individual taxes!

While “government jobs” are great for the individual, they are a huge strain on our economy. The larger the government gets, the more the private sector has to struggle to “grow the economy” in order to afford to pay the ever-increasing tab.

Private unemployment, even by the projections of the White House, will likely be 9%+ for the balance of the year. Businesses are hurting, as are those without jobs (myself included).

So, what about a “Jobs Bill”? Unless it included major tax breaks for businesses, in the interest of “growing the economy” (highly unlikely, given this administation and Congress), it will simply be more $Billions in government money, ignorantly thrown at the problem, thus deepening the deficits, as well as the long-term debt.

What about “Economic Stimulus”? Well, I’ve addressed that here, but, in short, it’s nothing more than new spending, in enormous amounts.

Getting back to the “Health Care Reform Bill”; this is just another $Trillion++ boondoggle that will further burden employers, as well as employees, and will further increase the size and scope of the Federal monster.

The American economy is a resiliant, magnificent machine, but everything has a breaking point. We have doubled the National Debt in just the last year, and what happened last night will substantially increase it.

We are well down the road to economic ruin, our freedoms are under attack, and we have become a nation, in just the last year, that I no longer recognize.

As Iron Fist, a poster on Blogmocracy said, “if you wanted to destroy America, what would you do differently?” The answer is still a resounding “NOTHING”.

Boehner Speaks TRUTH Last Night to Deaf Ears

I have nothing to add.

"Economic Stimulus"? I Think Not

One of the things that have long bothered me is all of the crap that is included in these bills, and I have no doubt that this “Health Care Reform Bill” is bursting with stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with Health Care.

Case in point: My local paper’s lead story this morning was that the city had received $7.9 Million of “Stimulus” money. How is this money being spent?

Louisville says it will make more fresh fruits and vegetables available in poor neighborhoods, improve bike trails and serve healthier school lunches as a result of a $7.9million federal stimulus grant received Friday.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is designed to give people more “opportunities to be healthy and to make better choices,” said Dr. Adewale Troutman, director of the Louisville Metro Health and Wellness Department.

The money is part of the federal agency’s “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” initiative and will go toward 23 projects to promote healthy living.

The $7.9million is equal to about one-third of the annual operating budget for the health department, which will administer the grant, and is a “dramatic extension” of resources available for improving health, Troutman said.

A complete list of what will be funded by the “Stimulus money” includes:

• Expand local food distribution points.
• Support neighborhood-based projects for local producers and sellers in “food deserts.”
• Increase student input in food and beverage choices.
• Implement “menu labeling” for places that sell prepared foods.
• Conduct a “food fight” social marketing campaign, which will provide nutritional information about food choices.
• Increase support and standardize breastfeeding policies hospitals where babies are born.
• Implement metro government workplace breastfeeding policies.
• Revise wellness policies in schools.
• Standardize physical activity in JCPS school-based afterschool programs.
• Increase access to metro parks and the proposed Louisville Loop.
• Implement health impact assessments used to evaluate the potential health effects of a project or policy.
• Increase public safety measures in metro parks.
• Improve community policing in targeted communities.
• Institute an advisory council on food policy.
• Develop a master’s degree program in public health and urban planning at the University of Louisville.
• Develop a communitywide media campaign to promote physical activity and improve nutrition.

Does anyone see anything here that even remotely resembles “Economic Stimulus”?

I know that no one gives a crap about local issues, nor should you. The fact is, however, that this is being done in every community in the country.

As a member of the unemployed, forgive me if I don’t give a rat’s ass about spending Federal tax dollars (that we don’t have) on frivolous BS like “Increase support and standardize breastfeeding policies hospitals where babies are born” and “Implement metro government workplace breastfeeding policies.”

Yes, I made my comments in the “comments” section, but it’s like a voice in the wilderness. Too many people don’t seem to understand that this is THEIR MONEY.

"Big Health Insurance": The New Boogeyman

The Left has latched onto a meme that they have been using for decades in order to denigrate capitalism and the concept of "profits". It's simple to do, just use the word "Big", followed by whatever industry you'd like to criticize. You know the image it creates; big "fat cats", sitting around in their palatial office, devising new plans for squeezing you dry.

Actually, the reality is generally quite different. Sure, a lot of these industries move around billions of dollars, but how much are they actually keeping after all is said and done. Remember, if you have a 401K or a mutual fund, this is a salient question for you, personally.

The fact is, the Health Insurance Industry ranks 86th as the most profitable industries in America: (Click image to enlarge)


The problem with the insurance industry is that they've never had to really compete for business, thus forcing them to run more efficiently. If you look at many of the MOST profitable industries on this list, you will see highly competitive. A basic rule of free economics is that competition give the consumer a better product, at a lower price, and increases profits for the company.

As Professor Mark J. Perry (from whose blog I obtained the chart, above) concludes his post:

"And isn't one reason for a lack of competition that competition for health insurance across state lines is prohibited, creating in effect 50 state health insurance "cartels?"

Simply lifting this prohibition may well net us much of the reform we seek; turning it over the government to "manage" and "regulate" is a fool's errand.

Accused Child Killer Paid $200,000 by ABC News

Well, if you can't report the news, buy it.

New evidence was released Thursday in the Casey Anthony murder case, including the amount of money she received from a television network, as well as conversations she had with other inmates.

Anthony's defense team told Judge Stan Strickland that she no longer has funds to pay for the trial. Her attorney testified ABC News paid Casey Anthony $200,000, but that those funds are now gone.

Strickland is deciding whether to approve the declaration of Anthony being indigent, which would make the state pay for her defense.

Lest you don't recall the case:

Casey Anthony remains jailed on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee, who was last seen in June of 2008. Caylee was not reported missing until a month later. The little girl's remains were found in a wooded area near the family's home on December 11, 2008. Investigators say the toddler's body was found with duct tape over her mouth.

So, if I understand this correctly, ABC News has picked up the tab for this monster's legal bills, and the lawyers, having burned through the $200K, are now bailing out.

I know that even "accused" murderers merit legal representation, but since when do news organizations pay for it?

The Democrats' Healthcare Putsch

No misspellings in the title, a "putsch" is described as:

"a plotted revolt or attempt to overthrow a government, esp. one that depends upon suddenness and speed."

How can we describe what is now happening any more clearly? In every poll that has been taken (including the Liberal CNN), the American people have said, overwhelmingly, that they do not want this Health Care bill.

Yet, the President and his sycophants in Congress are determined to override the wishes of the people and immediately force this monstrosity into law, by whatever means necessary. Is that not the very definition of, at the very least, a partial "putsch"?

Every piece of bad legislation (and there have been many) that this Congress, and this President have enacted all had the same element of "urgency" which precluded careful deliberation. The result has been a doubling of the National Debt in the span of just one year, with no real improvement in the economy, or the unemployment rate. Despite hundreds of billions spent on "Stimulus" we remain unstimulated. Even the "President's Men" have concluded that unemployment will remain "elevated" for the balance of the year.

As for Obama, he claims that with this Health Care Plan in place, employer premiums would fall as much as "3.000%". yes, you read that right; THREE THOUSAND PERCENT!

In his own words:



In he an idiot, or does he think we are?

The back room deals, procedural tricks, arm twisting, lies and, most importantly, the abject disregard of the people's wishes on the part of the President and his cronies is disgraceful and breathtakingly arrogant. Alas, this has been a pattern that has been followed throughout the short life of this administration.

We, as a nation, made a terrible mistake in November, 2008, and we are now paying the price.

The American Dream: Dead or Just Sleeping?

Is the “American Dream’ dead? If it’s not, it’s in a coma and it will take more eloquent speeches an hollow rhetoric to revive it.

If I may quote myself from the piece, below, with relation to my own situation:

“Lest you think this is whining; it’s not. It is a lament that I am sure resonates with many in my age group. We were the generation that created the “youth-worship” that we still see today and it has resulted in our being “tossed to the curb”.

We created the means of our own destruction by elevating youth above experience and wisdom, and now we reap the whirlwind. Collectively, we have dealt a serious blow to the “American Dream”; perhaps a mortal one.”

In my former position, I reviewed resumes and applications, many of them from young college graduates. Many couldn't’t spell or construct a coherent sentence. They seemingly had no knowledge of punctuation and many completed their online applications in either all upper case letters, or all lower case letters. They sent me follow-up emails that began like “hey, this is linda, how r u?”. WTF is in their heads? We have an increasingly uneducated populace, regardless of educational levels.

I desperately want to still believe in the “American Dream”, but it’s more difficult by the day. The lack of basic common sense that exists in America today is astounding; from the White House and Congress, to GM, Chrysler, and the financial industry.

Does manufacturing cars, at a loss of $1,400 per unit, make any sense at all? Does making loans to people with no money, for things they obviously cannot afford make any sense? Does ramming through a health care bill, in spite of the overwhelming objections of the American people make any sense? Does paying generations generations of welfare recipients to make more babies, thus perpetuating the trend, make any sense?

I’m sure that to the political hacks in Washington, and the clueless MBAs that inhabit corporate America, this all makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, it is WE, the American people, who must pick up the tab for their foolishness.

The foundations of the “American Dream” are work, accomplishment and reward. The sense of entitlement that has fallen over our country is eroding those foundations like an acidic fog.

We have forgotten our history, and the sacrifices of our forebears. That loss of memory may well spell our undoing.

Facing Unemployment at 50+

The Devaluation of Work, Accomplishment and Experience in American Business

I rarely write about personal issues on this blog, but today is an exception.

Immediately after High School, I excitedly joined the Navy. After scoring highly in the aptitude tests at the time, I was recommended for clerical or intelligence work. In the infinite wisdom of the Navy at the time, I was sent to cook’s school; something to which I never aspired, nor had any interest. A cook I remained, and that fact, alone, prompted me to take an early (honorable) discharge, and set my sights on the private sector.

My World War II generation parents, both veterans, instilled in me a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” attitude, and pull I did.

I have worked diligently since I was 21 in the private sector, starting out at the bottom; schlepping boxes in a small, privately owned distribution firm in 1974. I worked hard, and my work was shortly rewarded; being promoted to an office position in a fairly short period of time and eventually assuming the job of “Customer Service Manager”. This job consisted of overseeing the order entry clerks and handling problems.

It was during this period that physical records were being replaced by computers; an area that fascinated me. This small company for which I worked contracted an outside source to handle the data processing, which was common at the time. The process consisted of paper records being physically translated to a “punch card’ system, so that a mainframe could produce reports regarding accounts payable and receivable. Inventory was still kept on ledger cards. Eventually, the technology advanced from a “punch card” system, to a fully online accounting, order entry, and inventory system. I had a natural aptitude for this new technology, as well as an in depth knowledge of the entire operation and was selected as the liaison between the company and the developers and the company providing the IT services. These were heady and exciting times.

By the mid 80’s, business had taken a turn for the worse, and in January, 1987, the company was sold. The new owners decided to keep the facility and continue operations, under their name, and promoted me to Operations Manager. Life was good, and I ran the best facility in the company; in terms of efficiency as well as the conciseness of inventory records. I enjoyed my work, had a wonderful staff, and was able to create a work environment that was conducive not only to productivity, but to employee satisfaction. I told them early on that “we may never be the largest facility in the company, but we will be the best”, and that we became.

Life went on in this manner until the early 2000s and business started to change and, by 2004, it was clear that change was in the offing for my company. The decision was made to consolidate two distribution centers into one, thus closing mine.

At 50, after a productive 30 year career, I was on the street, albeit with a severance package. After six months of job searching, it became clear that there was little interest in a 50 year-old, regardless of experience. With the severance and the unemployment waning, I saw an ad in the newspaper, soliciting Flight Attendants for a regional airline. Let’s face it, this job didn’t exactly fit my demographic, and that’s an understatement. I decided, as the saying goes, to “turn lemons into lemonade”.

Well, as I have often said; I went to the interview (cattle call) having no expectation of being hired and, if hired, no expectation of staying. It was merely an interim job to keep a little (very little) income flowing into the household coffers. As fate would have it, I was invited to attend training. After having passed training, I assumed the unusual life of a Flight Attendant, a role in which I excelled. After about a year-and-a-half, I was asked to apply for the job of “Recruiter”. As with the Flight Attendant position, this required constant travel; giving public presentations and conducting interviews nationwide, with administrative work to be completed in-between travel assignments. It was highly rewarding, yet grueling, but with large amounts of caffeine, I was able to do it.

Eventually, this non-stop lifestyle took its toll and I developed serious health problems as a result. Simultaneously, the company fell upon difficult economic conditions and recruiting was a “back burner” operation. Due to my experience with spreadsheets, combined with my analytical and communications skills, I was retained to accomplish other tasks. Alas, the retention requires me to commute 500 miles each way, by air, five days per week. This requires 14 hour days, or 70 hour weeks, paying for my own meals for less than $27K in compensation. Getting up every day at 4:30 AM and not returning home until 8:30 PM is not only fatiguing beyond belief and it eliminates any personal life, whatsoever. Finally, upon long-standing advice from my doctors, I have decided that the personal risk is no longer worth the ever-diminishing compensation.

So, with a State unemployment rate at 10.7%, the future is not particularly bright at 57; too young to retire and too old to find gainful employment.

Lest you think this is whining; it’s not. It is a lament that I am sure resonates with many in my age group. We were the generation that created the “youth-worship” that we still see today and it has resulted in our being “tossed to the curb”.

We created the means of our own destruction by elevating youth above experience and wisdom, and now we reap the whirlwind. Collectively, we have dealt a serious blow to the “American Dream”; perhaps a mortal one.

Does ANYTHING Qualify as "Crossing the Line"?

Let me stipulate that I'm no fan of Bill Maher; he's a "smartass' without being particularly intelligent and is particularly fond of outrageous statements because, let's face it, it increases his audience among an increasingly uninformed American populace.



I’d like to discount Maher as just another airhead, blessed with a certain amount of wit, however misdirected it may be. It's far more corrosive than that.

The fact is, he is a perfect example of what is going wrong with America; in the Infotainment Age, he no longer seen a a comedian, but as a legitimate commentator and put on the same level as once were people like William F Buckley. Maher is one of a number of pustules on the backside if the American body politic, and they fester and infect us all.

Back in the day, Johnny Carson would have likely fired a writer that submitted that type of garbage; these days, the “edgier the better”.

We have celebrities postulate on subjects about which they know nothing, simply because they are celebrities. Should they have the right to free speech, just as the rest of us? Absolutely, but those who allow them their stage should have the temerity to challenge them, just as they would a WFB or a Rush Limbaugh. If you want to assume the mantle of commentator, or "journalist", accept the responsibilities that accompany it.

Certainly his reponse would be "I'm just a comedian", but the fact is that he is influencing politial opinion, so is he, therefore, much more? You can't have it both ways.

We are quickly becoming a dangerously uneducated nation. I read emails from applicants in my line of work and they either write in all uppercase, or all lowercase, their grammar is pathetic and often write in texting code, the begin emails like “hey, how r u i want to get more info on the job u have posted”

These are the people who are watching Maher, as though he were a 21st Century Oracle of Delphi, simply because he can make them laugh at other’s expense and make complicated and serious situations seem simple an humorous. Why watch boring news shows when we can watch Maher, who boils the whole world down into a humorous monologue?

This is the nation that we are fast becoming: one that simply cannot undertand or communicate, is addicted to Reality TV, video games, social websites, with little time for anything else.

It’s disturbing beyond belief. Yes, there are some bright young people out there who are well informed thinkers, but they are quickly becoming a minority. The majority, on the other hand, will have to be maintained, at taxpayer expense, because they will be useless at anything more productive that the most menial of tasks. This majority will be highly malleable, and how do you think they’ll vote?

This is my nightmare of America, and I see it taking form in the real world with each passing day.

Is Everything Now The Business of The Government?

The Banking Industry, the Auto Industry, The Health Care Industry, and now, COLLEGE FOOTBALL?

Justice Dept.: Obama administration may take action on BCS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is considering several steps that would review the legality of the controversial Bowl Championship Series, the Justice Department said in a letter Friday to a senator who had asked for an antitrust review.

In the letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, obtained by The Associated Press, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote that the Justice Department is reviewing Hatch's request and other materials to determine whether to open an investigation into whether the BCS violates antitrust laws.

"Importantly, and in addition, the administration also is exploring other options that might be available to address concerns with the college football postseason," Weich wrote, including asking the Federal Trade Commission to review the legality of the BCS under consumer protection laws.

Several lawmakers and many critics want the BCS to switch to a playoff system, rather than the ratings system it uses to determine the teams that play in the championship game.

"The administration shares your belief that the current lack of a college football national championship playoff with respect to the highest division of college football ... raises important questions affecting millions of fans, colleges and universities, players and other interested parties," Weich wrote.

Weich made note of the fact that President Barack Obama, before he was sworn in, had stated his preference for a playoff system. In 2008, Obama said he was going to "to throw my weight around a little bit" to nudge college football toward a playoff system, a point that Hatch stressed when he urged Obama last fall to ask the department to investigate the BCS.

First, Orrin Hatch should be ashamed of himself, as should any other Republican who even thinks about signing on to this madness. This isn't "smaller government"; it's intrusive and meddling government.

I, personally, am no fan of the BCS system; it's often unfair and excludes teams that have earned the right to be included. This is, however, a matter for the NCAA to address, and not one for intrusion by the Federal Government under the guise of enforcing "anti-trust" or "consumer protection" laws.

As for Obama, I cannot say I'm surprised. He seems intent on injecting himself, and the government, into any and every facet of American life. He sees the the government as a ubiquitous solution machine and feels it to be within his puview to, as he stated, "throw (his)weight around a little bit", whenever he feels the need.

The "BCS System" is increasingly unpopular with the fans, it's not eqitable, but it's not a government issue. I want to see the system changed, but at the hands of the NCAA, not the Justice Department.

Bored With The Presidency?

Byron York has an interesting take on President Obama; a man who seemingly has been troubled with the limitations of every job he has held, thus creating a sense of boredom with each of those jobs. It's an interesting look at the President, and a fascinating read:

Has Obama become bored with being president?

Jon Stewart on Chris Matthews

Pretty funny stuff. I think that, after a year of reticence, the "Comedia" may be discovering that the Left provides at least as much fodder for ridicule as the right, and possibly more. Saturday Night Live broke the taboo, now all bets are off.

Howard Zinn, RIP

Howard Zinn, author of 'People's History' and left-wing historian, dies at 87 in California

Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose leftist "A People's History of the United States" became a million-selling alternative to mainstream texts and a favorite of such celebrities as Bruce Springsteen and Ben Affleck, died Wednesday. He was 87.

History has a way of installing rational perspective, thus replacing contemporary reactionary propoganda. Zinn will be judged accordingly and will be found wanting. In that, I have faith. He, just like Marx and Engles, espoused fantastical solutions to practical problems. Many in the ranks of the foolish glitterati found him to be a visionary, even though his postulations have been tried, and have failed miserably for nearly a century.

Zinn was neither an historian nor a scholar; he was a small man with simplistic ideas, designed for small, undeveloped and unthinking minds who feel to much and think too little.

Let he, as well as his psuedo-philosophy, reside in the rotting, compost bin of history to be eventually used as fertlizer for true human progess.

So NOW They Want Bipartsanship?

WSJ: White House Toughens Tone After Difficult Week

On "Meet the Press," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said, "What we learned from the Massachusetts victory is that people are sick and tired of Washington not delivering for them."

What you learned, you tone-deaf moron, was that people are tired of Washington continuing spend money like it was water, while unemployment continues to rise. Maybe, Ms. Jarrett, the people don't like what you're delivering - nothing, at an enormous expense to the taxpayer.

Republicans said Mr. Brown's victory was a repudiation of the Obama agenda, not just of Democratic dithering. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) urged the president to move to the center and engage Republicans.

McCain is often wrong, but this time he's dead-on. It's a shame that they didn't "engage" Republicans before bringing us to the brink of ruin.

Mr. Obama did that on one issue. On Saturday, he endorsed legislation in the Senate to create a bipartisan commission to tackle the budget deficit, with an up-or-down vote in Congress on its recommendations at the end of the year. A vote on creating that commission is scheduled in the Senate for Tuesday, and it is not expected to pass.

White House officials hope the president's endorsement of the bill will soften Republican opposition to his plan to create a similar commission by executive order. That commission will need GOP cooperation to fill eight of the 18 seats on the panel with Republicans.

Same old crap from these people; the Democrats singlehandedly created this budget nightmare with total control of the Executive and legislative branches; now they want to form a "bipartisan commission" to solve it. It's funny that there was no bipartisanship for the past 12 months while the problems were being created.

Of course, then he was "the Messiah", now he's just the Democrat hack that many of us knew he was all along.

Republicans should hold his feet to the fire for a while and demand that a lot of these expenditures, primarily the worthless "stimulus" be rolled back. He wants cover; don't give it to him.

MULTI-TASKING and Other Foolishness

“Buzz Words” have long been a staple of American business (I’m sure foreign business has their own, but let them deal with theirs in their own way).

These words and phrases are shorthand for concepts that, far too often, the users don’t really understand. Subsequently, these words and phrases have become concepts unto themselves. It has become increasingly clear that many Americans have lost the ability to clearly and effectively communicate within the confines of the English language. Nowhere is this more evident than in American business; an environ increasingly populated by people who utter these words and phrases as though they are sacred mantras. They are not mantras, or even intelligible; they're foolishness, transcribed into easily digestible word-bites by unthinking cheerleaders to be gobbled up as a source of motivation.

The one currently most popular is also the one that particularly enrages me:

MULTI-TASKING: This form of foolishness conjures up the image of one performing multiple tasks simultaneously; having a phone conversation, working on a spreadsheet or report and perhaps reading or answering an email, all at the same time. The truth is that this creates a stress absorbed work environment, where very little is actually accomplished. The results of a “high multitasking individual” are a trail of undone or poorly done projects because no single issue is given the amount of concentration it deserves. “Multitasking” is an excuse for a disordered mind that has been redefined as an attribute to which we should aspire. Alas, it is even listed as a requirement for most jobs today.

Do FOCUS and CONCENTRATION no longer have value?

I expect management to assign tasks, and prioritize those tasks (A, B, C, D, etc.) Is that too much to ask? If asked what I am working on, and my response is “A”, and then I am immediately quizzed on how “B” and “D” are coming, my response is generally “well, I have been working on ‘A’, has there been a change in priority?” Then, I am often admonished that “multitasking” is a skill that I should develop. “Multitasking” is not a skill; it’s a disorder and I have no interest in developing it. I have enough problems already. Perhaps prioritization is a skill that management should develop, rather than raising “willfully acquired ADD” to a paragon of virtue. Perhaps they would, but they may be to busy "multitasking" to actually think.

Have you ever been watching TV, while engrossed in thought about another subject that's on your mind, and suddenly realize that the visuals and sound eminating from your TV have totally eluded you and you have no idea, whatsoever, what has been happening? That is multitasking!

Not only is "multitasking" impossible to do with any degree of efficiency, it is highly undesirable in a work environment.

So, you don't believe me? Will you believe Stanford University?

Media multitaskers pay mental price, Stanford study shows
Think you can talk on the phone, send an instant message and read your e-mail all at once? Stanford researchers say even trying may impair your cognitive control.

Attention, multitaskers (if you can pay attention, that is): Your brain may be in trouble.

People who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time, a group of Stanford researchers has found.

High-tech jugglers are everywhere – keeping up several e-mail and instant message conversations at once, text messaging while watching television and jumping from one website to another while plowing through homework assignments.

But after putting about 100 students through a series of three tests, the researchers realized those heavy media multitaskers are paying a big mental price.

"They're suckers for irrelevancy," said communication Professor Clifford Nass, one of the researchers whose findings are published in the Aug. 24 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Everything distracts them."

Social scientists have long assumed that it's impossible to process more than one string of information at a time. The brain just can't do it. But many researchers have guessed that people who appear to multitask must have superb control over what they think about and what they pay attention to.

Is there a gift?

So Nass and his colleagues, Eyal Ophir and Anthony Wagner, set out to learn what gives multitaskers their edge. What is their gift?

"We kept looking for what they're better at, and we didn't find it," said Ophir, the study's lead author and a researcher in Stanford's Communication Between Humans and Interactive Media Lab.

In each of their tests, the researchers split their subjects into two groups: those who regularly do a lot of media multitasking and those who don't.

In one experiment, the groups were shown sets of two red rectangles alone or surrounded by two, four or six blue rectangles. Each configuration was flashed twice, and the participants had to determine whether the two red rectangles in the second frame were in a different position than in the first frame.

They were told to ignore the blue rectangles, and the low multitaskers had no problem doing that. But the high multitaskers were constantly distracted by the irrelevant blue images. Their performance was horrible.

Because the high multitaskers showed they couldn't ignore things, the researchers figured they were better at storing and organizing information. Maybe they had better memories.

The second test proved that theory wrong. After being shown sequences of alphabetical letters, the high multitaskers did a lousy job at remembering when a letter was making a repeat appearance.

"The low multitaskers did great," Ophir said. "The high multitaskers were doing worse and worse the further they went along because they kept seeing more letters and had difficulty keeping them sorted in their brains."

Still puzzled

Puzzled but not yet stumped on why the heavy multitaskers weren't performing well, the researchers conducted a third test. If the heavy multitaskers couldn't filter out irrelevant information or organize their memories, perhaps they excelled at switching from one thing to another faster and better than anyone else.

Wrong again, the study found.

The test subjects were shown images of letters and numbers at the same time and instructed what to focus on. When they were told to pay attention to numbers, they had to determine if the digits were even or odd. When told to concentrate on letters, they had to say whether they were vowels or consonants.

Again, the heavy multitaskers underperformed the light multitaskers.

"They couldn't help thinking about the task they weren't doing," Ophir said. "The high multitaskers are always drawing from all the information in front of them. They can't keep things separate in their minds."

The researchers are still studying whether chronic media multitaskers are born with an inability to concentrate or are damaging their cognitive control by willingly taking in so much at once. But they're convinced the minds of multitaskers are not working as well as they could.

"When they're in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, they're not able to filter out what's not relevant to their current goal," said Wagner, an associate professor of psychology. "That failure to filter means they're slowed down by that irrelevant information."

So maybe it's time to stop e-mailing if you're following the game on TV, and rethink singing along with the radio if you're reading the latest news online. By doing less, you might accomplish more.

Among my other least favorites:

Thinking “Outside the Box”: Has the simple term “creativity” lost its punch? Is not “The Box” the corporate mindset? If we need to exit “The Box” to think creatively, perhaps we should rethink the whole concept of “The Box”, no? Venturing too far outside "The Box" is a dicey proposition.

Let Me Pick your Brain: A particularly disgusting mental image. Can we no longer just ask for an opinion, a personal view or outlook, without conjuring a mental image of some sort of pseudo-surgical procedure? I suspect that many of these “brain pickers’ are representing the “brain boogers” they accumulate as their own.

Team Player: Old, jaded and useless. The fact that one has to stipulate this fact says a lot about the state of corporate America and those that inhabit it. Essentially, this states that “I am not a back-stabber and I support my peers, as well as the goals of the company”. Would a back-stabbing, self-absorbed narcissist actually admit it? Clearly not; back-stabbing, self-absorbed narcissists seem to rise to the top of the corporate ladder with increasing frequency.

With all of this in mind, is it really that surprising that American business is in its current state of woe?

In 1969, Dr. Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull wrote “The Peter Principle”. Originally meant to be humorous, clearly, its precepts have become the norm:

The Peter Principle is the principle that "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." It was formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull in their 1969 book The Peter Principle, a humorous treatise which also introduced the "salutary science of Hierarchiology", "inadvertently founded" by Peter. It holds that in a hierarchy, members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their "level of incompetence"), and there they remain, being unable to earn further promotions. This principle can be modeled and has theoretical validity.[1] Peter's Corollary states that "in time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out his duties" and adds that "work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence".

"The Peter Principle" continues to be an instructional and cautionary work, yet we have failed to recognize its simple wisdom.

In April, 2009, Business Week published an article: The Peter Principle Lives: Now 40, The Peter Principle resonates even more today, when a lust for accomplishment has led an unprecedented level of incompetence.

It states, in part:

The Peter Principle made us laugh, but it also made us aware of the importance of simple competence—and of how elusive it could be. When people do their jobs well, Dr. Peter argued, society can't leave well enough alone. We ask for more and more until we ask too much. Then these individuals—promoted to positions in which they are doomed to fail—start using a bag of tricks to mask their incompetence. They distract us from their crummy work with giant desks, replace action with incomprehensible acronyms, blame others for failure, cheat to create the illusion of progress.

Dr Peter died in 1990, but I must wonder what he would have to say about "multitasking".

I cannot speak for him, but I think it facilitates our rise to "the level of our incompetence".

Keep Talking, America!

“I expect to be held responsible, but I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking.”

President Obama took office a year ago, with a formidable Democrat majority in Congress that has virtually rubber stamped his every whim. What has he done?

*He's virtually nationalized the auto industry as well as a large part of the financial industry.

*He's more than quadrupled the budget deficit in just one year.


*He's decided to try the architect of 9/11, in New York, as no more than a common criminal; affording him the same rights as a citizen.

*Were it not for quick thinking on the part of a passenger, we would have suffered the first terrorist attack since 9/11 and, again, the perpetrator will be tried as a civilian, rather than the enemy combatant that he clearly is.

*After spending nearly $800 billion in a misbegotten "stimulus" effort, unemployment is over 10%; higher than the 7.6% when he took office.

*He has attempted (and thankfully failed) to nationalize our health care system.

The fact is that, despite his rubber stamp Congress (or, likely because of it), he has turned a manageable recession into economic chaos, attacked capitalism at home and disparaged his own country abroad. He's alienated our friends and coddled our enemies and has developed an incomprehensible foreign policy.

All of this has been brought to you by Democrats. He, and his ilk, have "cleaned up" nothing; they've made everything infinitely worse.

He's had his year, and the opposition leaders didn't "do a lot of talking", but the PEOPLE have been talking for months. In the most unlikely state in our union, Massachusetts, no less, that talking has borne fruit.

Keep talking, America.

White House Unbending on Plan to Send Gitmo Prisoners back to Yemen

Yemen is clearly the new hotbed and training center for Islamic terrorism; it's considered so dangerous that both the UK and the US have closed their embassies. The Chrismas Day "Underwear Bomber" was trained and supplied in Yemen.

With all of that in mind, the Administration is hell-bent on releasing Gitmo prisoners into Yemen:

On Fox News Sunday, top White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said the administration "absolutely" intends to keep sending Guantanamo prisoners to Yemen. The administration has sent seven detainees to the country, Brennan said, with six of those sent in December. "Several of those detainees were put into Yemeni custody right away," Brennan said. He did not elaborate on how many is "several" or where the other Guantanamo inmates sent to Yemen might be today. But he said the U.S. has faith in Yemen to handle the situation. "We've had close dialogue with the Yemeni government about the expectations that we have as far as what they're supposed to do when these detainees go back," Brennan said.

I don't see this ending well, and that's an understatement.

What do YOU See In These Pictures?

And the close-up image:

Do the words "arrogance", "contempt" and "narcissim" come to mind?

(h/t Instaundit)

Is There Something Here That I'm Missing?

December 18, 2009:

Six Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay to be repatriated
The Obama administration is planning to repatriate six Yemenis held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a transfer that could be a prelude to the release of dozens more detainees to Yemen, according to sources with independent knowledge of the matter.

January 3, 2010:

U.S., U.K. Embassies in Yemen Close Over Al Qaeda Threats
SAN’A, Yemen — The U.S. and Britain closed their embassies in Yemen on Sunday in the face of Al Qaeda threats, after both countries announced an increase in aid to the government to fight the terror group linked to the failed attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas.

At one point, we have plans to release "dozens" of terrorists in Yemen, then, two weeks later, we are closing our embassy due to the danger. Has it just now dawned on us that Yemen has long been a hotbed of terrorism, and one of the most dangerous countries on earth?

This is a virtually failed state, incapable of even basic self-protection:

Hundreds of al-Qaeda militants are planning terror attacks from Yemen, the country’s Foreign Minister said today.

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi appealed for more help from the international community to help to train and equip counter-terrorist forces.

His plea came after an al-Qaeda group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day airliner bomb plot.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, alleged to be behind the attempt to blow up an American-bound aircraft, spent time in Yemen with al-Qaeda and was in the country only days before the failed attack.

Dr al-Qirbi said: “Of course there are a number of al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen and some of their leaders. We realise this danger.

“They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit. There are maybe hundreds of them — 200, 300.”

Dr al-Qirbi said it was the “responsibility” of countries with strong intelligence capabilities to warn states such as Yemen about the movements of terror suspects.

The United States, Britain and the European Union could do a lot to improve Yemen’s response to militants on its own soil, he added.

“We have to work in a very joint fashion in partnership to combat terrorism,” he said. “If we do, the problem will be brought under control.

“There is support, but I must say it is inadequate. We need more training, we have to expand our counter-terrorism units and provide them with equipment and transportation like helicopters.”

Mr Abdulmutallab is said to have told US agents that there were more people “just like him” ready to carry out attacks.

A logical question would be; were we given forwarning of this situation prior to the Christmans bombing attempt, or is the Yemini government being "suddenly cooperative" in an effort of CYA?

Even though Yemen seems to know quite a bit about these terrorist trainees, Obama's top terrorism advisor still claims that there was nothing that could have been done:

WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence agencies did not miss a "smoking gun" that could have prevented a failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser said Sunday.

The adviser, John Brennan, told Fox News that there were a series of what he called lapses and errors in sharing intelligence about the Nigerian man accused in the unsuccessful attempt.

"There is no smoking gun," Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday." "There was no single piece of intelligence that said, 'this guy is going to get on a plane."'

Brennan is leading a White House review of the incident. Brennan didn't say whether anyone is in line to be fired because of the oversights.

Obama has said there was a systemic failure to prevent the attack, which he said was instigated by an affiliate in Yemen of the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

Obama ordered a thorough look at the shortcomings that permitted the plot, which failed not because of U.S. actions but because the would-be attacker was unable to ignite an explosive device. The president has summoned homeland security officials to meet with him in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab apparently assembled an explosive device, including 80 grams of Pentrite, or PETN, in the aircraft toilet of a Detroit-bound Northwest flight, then planned to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals. Passengers intervened, and the plan failed.

The 23-year-old suspect's name was known to intelligence officials, and his father had passed along his concern about the son's increasing radicalization.

"We had bits and pieces of information," Brennan said on CNN's "State of the Union." The father's warning, he said, was "one set of data."

But Brennan said other information available didn't provide the details needed to map it and attach it to Abdulmutallab.

"What we need to do as an intelligence community, as a government, is be able to bring those disparate bits and pieces of information together so we prevent Mr. Abdulmutallab from getting on the plane."

He stood by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, although he acknowledged she has "taken some hits" for saying that the airline security system had worked. It didn't, and she clarified her remarks to show she meant that the system worked only after the attack was foiled, Brennan said.

It seems that CYA is rampant and the more they try to explain, the more foolish and incompetent they sound. These people aren't trying to protect our country, they're trying to protect their jobs.

From top to bottom this is a group that is clearly in over it's head and that fact becomes more evident by the day.

Chasing Shadows

Napolitano announces international airport security campaign

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday announced it would launch a campaign next week to strengthen security screening procedures at a host of international airports.

The effort is part of the White House's heightened response to a Christmas Day attempt to bomb Delta Flight 253 in Detroit, a flight that originated in Amsterdam.

“As part of the ongoing review to determine exactly what went wrong leading up to Friday’s attempted terrorist attack, we are looking not only at our own processes, but also beyond our borders to ensure effective aviation security measures are in place for U.S-bound flights that originate at international airports,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement Thursday.

Does this incompetent administration realize that all four of the 9/11 flights were domestic, not international?

Do they realize that all of the "red flags' were clearly visable?

Then this, from The Wall Street Journal:

A U.S. government that has barred the phrase "war on terror" has nonetheless acknowledged that a failed Christmas day bomb attack on an airliner was a terrorist attempt. Can we all now drop the pretense that we stopped fighting a war once Dick Cheney and George W. Bush left the White House?

The attempt by 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab follows the alleged murders in Ft. Hood, Texas by Islamist-inspired Major Nidal Hasan in November. Brian Jenkins, who studies terrorism for the Rand Corporation, says there were more terror incidents (12), including thwarted plots, on U.S. soil in 2009 than in any year since 2001. The jihadists don't seem to like Americans any better because we're closing down Guantanamo.

This increasing terror tempo makes the Obama Administration's reflexive impulse to treat terrorists like routine criminal suspects all the more worrisome. It immediately indicted Mr. Abdulmutallab on criminal charges of trying to destroy an aircraft, despite reports that he told officials he had ties to al Qaeda and had picked up his PETN explosive in Yemen. The charges mean the Nigerian can only be interrogated like any other defendant in a criminal case, subject to having a lawyer present and his Miranda rights read.

Yet he is precisely the kind of illegal enemy combatant who should be interrogated first with the goal of preventing future attacks and learning more about terror networks rather than gaining a single conviction. We now have to hope he cooperates voluntarily.

What I want to know is how, or if, these "watch lists" and "no-fly lists" have been maintained during the last year and if the need to "not offend" has overridden our need to "defend".

Alas, I don't think, for one moment, that we will ever get an honest answer to that question; the rogues and charlatans that infest this White House, as well as our legislative branch, will see to that.