Archive for April, 2010
Oh The Irony: Tea Party Nation Wants Sensitivity Training for Critic
11:58 am, April 30th, 2010 on Politics

Those Who Live in Glass Houses...
So, a middle school teacher from the Beaverton, OR, area decided to bring down the Tea Party – an entirely noble idea if you ask me. His “Crash the Tea Party” aimed to:
… dismantle and demolish the Tea Party … by infiltrating the Tea Party itself…
[A]sk people at the rally to sign a petition renouncing socialism. See just how much info you can get from these folks (name, address, DOB, Social Security #). The more data we can mines (sic) from the Tea Partiers, the more mayhem we can cause with it!!!!
Being a public employee, he was caught and placed on administrative leave because, of course, his actions were wrong especially if he did it all on the taxpayer’s dime.
The Tea Party Nation folks reacted by demanding:
…the school district to:
- apologize for failing to properly supervise its employee
- issue a written pledge to investigate how Levin’s site may have influenced his students, and
- send a written reminder to staff, reiterating the district’s policy that prohibits teacher engagement in political activity during school hours or using school resources.
And, not just that… they also demand that:
Levin … not be terminated — as long as he successfully completes anger management and sensitivity classes
Did I read that right? Are my eyes failing me? TPN wants what?
Levin … not be terminated — as long as he successfully completes anger management and sensitivity classes
Anger management and sensitivity classes?!
Isn’t it the height of irony that the organization that is based on the very ideas of anger and insensitivity is demanding its foes to control their anger and insensitivity?
They should practice what they preach… the TPNers who were abusing black Congressmen should be first in line.
Conan O’Brien: Boo Hoo Hoo Hoo
9:59 am, April 30th, 2010 on Media

Good Riddance!
The big cry baby, Conan O’Brien, has been complaining to whoever will listen to him about what that evil man Jay Leno and the evil network NBC did to him.
Lying through his teeth, he claims:
He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know — I know me, I wouldn’t have done that
Polygraph him, shall we?
Oklahoma’s Abortion Law: Unconscionable or Reasonable?
3:50 pm, April 29th, 2010 on Abortion, Liberalism

I am a human too
Guilt-free abortion is one of the perks in a socialist/communist society, but, thankfully, we are moving away from that model here in the U.S.A. one state at a time. Oklahoma has passed a law, over-riding an earlier veto, that:
… requires doctors to show women an ultrasound of their fetus and point out its physical characteristics—even if the patient was impregnated through rape or incest.
The Week calls it unconscionable because:
The first measure, which legally requires doctors to give any pregnant woman considering an abortion an ultrasound probe, plus a “detailed description of the fetus,” before she makes her final decision.
and,
It stipulates that doctors cannot be sued if they decide not to tell an expectant mother that her baby has birth defects.
I personally think the bill is unconsidered “unconscionable” because it will potentially detract women from actually murdering their unborn children when the fetus becomes more than just a piece of useless flesh.
Hey, that’s just not acceptable. We want an abortion NOW! Planned Parenthood and all those murdering doctors need to make a living, after all.
English Only Driver’s License Exams: YES PLEASE!
2:46 pm, April 29th, 2010 on Common Sense
Tim James, Republican candidate for the governor’s mansion in Alabama, feels:
This is Alabama; we speak English … If you want to live here, learn it… we’re only giving [the driver licensing] test in English, if I am the governor
Alabama apparently gives the exam in 12 languages. But road signs are only in English.
The way I see it, either we change EVERY SINGLE road sign in the entire state to accommodate all 12 languages, which is completely impractical, or all drivers should be made to read and understand English before they can operate a motor vehicle on a road.
The choice is obvious – English-only exams should be mandatory. If you can’t read and understand “Do Not Enter,” you shouldn’t be behind the wheel of your car. This is not really a matter of race, but of road safety.
Tim James in person, for your viewing pleasure:
Mike Huckabee Criticizes Arizona Racist Law But I Still Don’t Like Him
2008 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has come out partially critical of the Arizona immigration law, claiming:
…What does concerns me is that if it’s not carried out and applied carefully, you could end up in the situation where people are indiscriminately stopped who are absolute citizens. … America is a lot like Disney World in that once you get a ticket, you’re in. You don’t have to keep showing your ticket to keep riding the rides. That’s the whole point of liberty.
That’s not going to endear him with the Tea Party types especially if he wants to POTUS next time around. And, I still don’t like the tax-raising, big-government, pseudo-conservative.
Florida Voters Get a 3-Some in November
With Charlie Crist imminently announcing his decision to run as an independent for Mel Martinez’s Senate Seat in November, Florida voters will be faced with a hot 3-way race:
- Republican Marco Rubio – a Catholic, conservative Cuban
- Independent Charlie Crist – Allegedly gay (and always flawlessly attired), single, moderate Greek-Cypriot-Irish
- Democrat Kendrick Meek – Moderate, black Baptist
Rasmussen’s polls show that the Greek might just pull it off, with double middle fingers to the Tea Party Nation.
While I like Rubio a lot and I appreciate that has enough guts to criticize Arizona’s racist anti-immigrant law, Crist is better qualified to be in the Senate. Plus, he’s just fabulous.
ACLU Set to Challenge Arizona Immigration Law
4:53 pm, April 28th, 2010 on Miscellaneous

Kobach: I Is Teaching
In a much welcomed and partly expected news (for me), the ACLU, alongwith the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the National Immigration Law Center, is set to challenge Arizona’s racist, anti-immigration law.
Kris Kobach, the alleged law professor who helped write the bill, claims:
…he took care to include an explicit ban on using “race, color or national origin” as the sole basis for stopping someone to ask for papers.
I suppose he expects the police officer/government official asking for the immigration papers will be endowed with special extra-sensory powers to determine the immigration status of his victim.
We have another idea for a new character on NBC’s Heroes: The Instantaneous Illegal Immigrant Detector Man!
Rep. Duncan Hunter: Deport U.S.-born Citizens
4:21 pm, April 28th, 2010 on GOP, immigration
Congressman Duncan D. Hunter is just about as crazy as the former U.S. Rep. and his father Duncan Lee Hunter. In fact, he might have outdone DLH by claiming at a Tea Party event:
Q: Would you support deportation of natural-born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens
DH: I would have to, yes… We simply cannot afford what we’re doing right now… It takes more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen. It’s what’s in our souls…
This is after he claimed that every single business in the U.S. should only employ “legal citizens” or “American citizens.” A business that doesn’t isn’t patriotic enough for him. The entire video is here:
I wonder how Hunter would have felt if the Native Americans had adopted this policy way when the Founding Fathers were landing on the shores of this country… I really do. For a country that is built upon the very concept of immigration, with at least 99% of its population being immigrants, Hunter’s comments ring truly hypocritical.
Toyota Introduces New Incentive: Get Your Car Recalled Before You Buy It
11:56 am, April 28th, 2010 on Humor

The Recalled Sales Event
Toyota Motors Corp. introduced a new promotion Wednesday that gives buyers an option to have their Toyota vehicle recalled before they buy it. The offer is designed to boost sales of Toyota cars amidst a spate of recalls and other safety related problems, most recently the Sequoia SUV.
Toyota said Wednesday that it was acting proactively to address any safety concerns buyers may have about its vehicles. “We are not sure what other problems may surface with our models and so we decided to issue a general recall for all our models. Toyota is committed to investigating customer complaints more aggressively and to responding quickly to issues we may identify in our vehicles in the future,” said Steve St. Angelo, Toyota chief quality officer for North America. Read on »
Facing Tough Primary, McCain Flips-Flops on Immigration
9:47 am, April 28th, 2010 on GOP, immigration

Match That, Hayworth
John McCain is proving to be a rather undependable independent – he apparently mastered the art of flip-flopping during the 2008 presidential election and is further honing his skills now that he faces conservative JD Hayworth in the primary election for his Senate seat.
The sponsor of the eponymous Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act which included “legalization, guest worker programs, and border enforcement components” with focus on the first two, now thinks that Arizona’s DWC bill is completely acceptable and justifiable because: Read on »
Noah’s Ark Found? MSNBC Recycles Liberal Propaganda
4:57 pm, April 27th, 2010 on Liberalism, Religion

Did Noah Dwell in This?
While we can justifiably be skeptical of any far-reaching and religiously-significant discoveries, such as the recent finding of Noah’s Ark in Turkey, if it were so unimportant, would MSNBC let loose its liberal dogs?
Alan Boyle opines:
Even if you assume the explorers found what they say they found, linking the discovery to Noah’s Ark requires lots of leaps of faith: Is the carbon dating accurate? Cornell’s Kuniholm said he would like to know who did the dating, especially considering that previous tests reportedly came up with more recent dates. Is it more plausible that the structure is from a miraculous ark, or from an ancient shelter on the mountainside? Is there any evidence of a catastrophic flood that rose to near the top of Ararat 4,800 years ago?
Of course, had this carbon dating involved the remains of a prehistoric human being (thereby proving evolution and disproving creationism), Mr. Boyle would right now be proclaiming it to be the greatest discovery in the history of the universe.
But, alas it isn’t so.
Awww: Indonesian Palm Oil Giant Breaks Greenpeace’s Heart
3:26 pm, April 27th, 2010 on Global Warming, Liberalism
Not Negotiating with Terrorists, But For How Much Longer?
It has just come to my attention that Greenpeace might need a little something to help it get over the reality that no rational corporate entity will support its radical, environmental agenda unless there’s some benefit in it for the company.
Sinar Mas, an Indonesian firm specializing in palm oil production, could not justify following Greenpeace’s directives without harm to its shareholders and employees. It has been flipping off environmentalists for the past several months and most recently:
Activists from the environmental group said they had discovered recently that a Sinar Mas subsidiary, PT BAT, was still clearing rainforest near a habitat of orangutans, an endangered species, in Central Kalimantan.
Two weeks ago, Greenpeace unveiled what it said was evidence that another Sinar Mas subsidiary, PT ALM, was “destroying deep peatland and high conservation value forest” in West Kalimantan.
Sinar Mas should be idolized for the way it is completely disregarding these environmental terrorists’ brainwashed agendas.
The Tea Party Nation and White Privilege
3:00 pm, April 27th, 2010 on Miscellaneous

Is This Acceptable?
The commonest rebuttal that liberals can present to any conservative ground-swelling consists of the race card or at best the class card. But, at times, their arguments do hold a semblance of the truth as in the recent Imagine if the Tea Party Were Black article by “anti-racist” Tim Wise.
Despite being cliched and repetitive, and writing with some obvious grammatical errors, Wise does highlight the one undeniable truth about the Tea Party Nation – it is overwhelmingly White, with only a few Blacks and Hispanics in its ranks.
While the issues that bring the teabaggers together transcend race and religion, they have made it into a race-based movement with their actions and words.
Repeatedly creaming the N-word at a black congressmen during an official Tea Party protest can hardly be interpreted in any other way. Taunting gay congressmen is just as bad. Read on »
Arizona’s New Crime Category: DWC
11:35 am, April 27th, 2010 on immigration

Guilty of Driving While Colored in Arizona
Driving While Colored is the latest crime on Arizona’s books and its cops have been actively and zealously enforcing it even before it was actually enacted into law.
An American citizen by birth was pulled over and handcuffed in Arizona simply because he was colored. Nothing more than his skin color and racial origin prompted his illegal arrest and detention.
U.S. citizens are not required to carry any documents pertaining to their citizenship, except when crossing international borders. There is no national I.D. card and both conservatives and liberals have opposed this measure.
Asking a U.S. citizen for his nationality documents is equivalent to the Nazis asking Germans for their identity documents.
President Obama opined correctly that the law and its enforcement measures:
undermine basic notions of fairness … If we continue to fail to act at a federal level, we will continue to see misguided efforts opening up around the country.
The Immoral Power of Credit Rating Agencies
9:29 am, April 27th, 2010 on Europe, Wall Street

Waiting To Be Pawned Off?
Where were Standard & Poor’s, Moodys, Fitch and the other smaller credit rating agencies in 2006-2008 when Goldman Sachs, WaMu, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and so many other investment and retail banks were peddling junk grade mortgage backed securities?
Why wasn’t the credit rating system being used effectively back then to highlight the exceptionally risky CDOs and MBSs before they almost brought down the global financial system? These credit rating agencies could have prevent some of the collapse, by downgrading AIG’s bond ratings, for instance, before the massive collapse.
They were responsible for the Great Recession just as much as the banks. Far from being dependable, their ratings are a mere re-statement of what the companies are saying themselves:
The rating agencies don’t do any factual verification, they just assume the accuracy of the information given them by the issuer, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
Heck, they…
…even gave Lehman Brother’s an investment grade A rating one month before its collapse.
Yet, when it comes to destroying the debt ratings of entire countries and non-financial sector companies, the rating agencies are more than eager to play the hand of God.
Just today, S&P lowered Greece’s bond rating to BB+, which equates to junk or non-investment status. This is only going to make it even more difficult for Greece to borrow at a time when it desperately needs to borrow. The EU is going to bail-out Greece, and even Germany is on board, which makes it highly unlikely that it will default on its loans or fail to raise the necessary funds.
This is why the power of these credit rating agencies is immoral and wrong, and needs to diminished – they help their friends on Wall Street, while flipping off Main Street in broad daylight.
Where is Obama’s regulation-friendliness when you need it, eh?
Obama’s 2010 Desperation Showing
You know 2010’s going to be a bad year for the Democrats when President Barack Obama says:
It will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, African-Americans, Latinos and women, who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again …
…leaving the vast majority of Americans out in the cold.
Will the dawgs be let out again this November?
Ungrateful Okinawans Want Americans Out
4:10 pm, April 26th, 2010 on Asia, Foreign Policy

Ungrateful Pigs
Those ungrateful Okinawans want Americans to get out of their “prefecture.”
Have they forgetten that we helped free them of their oppressive and militaristic government after WWII and put them on the way to rapid development?
Did we not help modernize Japan and help it become one of the wealthiest countries in the world today?
Have we not provided security and stability to the nation, protecting it from any potential aggressors?
That’s probably how the Tea Party Nation would react to the news, if it had enough collective intellect to venture into international relations.
Who’s To Blame For Skyrocketing Healthcare Costs?
3:39 pm, April 26th, 2010 on Health
CNN has a (sob) story about a man who was quoted $33,000 for a nasal surgery by U.S. doctors but was able to receive the same service in Wales at 1/10th the cost.
The following graphic shows pretty clearly how much skewed US costs are in comparison to the rest of the world:

Of course, the quality of healthcare in the US surpasses that of any other country, but nothing can justify such a huge premium. There are several explanations for these bloated prices: Read on »
UK’s Prime Ministerial Debate: Devil Trifecta

Past issue of TE
The UK is scheduled to witness its very first debate among the 3 candidates vying to lead the country out of the mess created by the Labour government.
If we are to believe the Economist, it won’t be more than a Clash of the Devils™.
Arizona Doesn’t Like Cheap Labor
2:02 pm, April 15th, 2010 on GOP, immigration

Yeah?
In another dead-headed move to alienate the fast-growing Hispanic community, Republicans in Arizona have passed a bill making it illegal to be an illegal alien. The worst part:
It gives sweeping new powers to the local authorities to determine a person’s legal immigrant status – something which has traditionally been the domain of federal immigration.
I just cannot accept a traffic cop asking my legal status if I am pulled over for a traffic infraction. It’s like persecuting somebody for cocaine possession when the person was charged for assault, the cocaine evidence having been obtained illegally and significantly unrelated to the charge at hand.
Immigration groups have vowed to fight this abomination of a bill, and they should too.
Besides, illegal aliens provide cheap labor when and where it’s needed. I suppose Arizonans like to waste money on labor charges, instead of spending it where it’s needed.
Bakiyev Gives Up and Runs
1:53 pm, April 15th, 2010 on Asia

I Give Up, French Style
Kyrgyz Prsydnt Bkyv hs srryndrd and fld to Kzkhstan.
How boring! We just don’t have old-style civil wars anymore – not even in the region that spawned our last era of civil wars in the first place.
The whole issue also shows that no one cares about Kyrgyzstan – where are the foreign intervenors when you need them?
Do We Need To Go To Mars?
11:44 am, April 14th, 2010 on Miscellaneous

Mars - Nothing To See Here!
Yes, the purpose would be dump all these tools wanting us to go to Mars in the first place.
Unless we can find technology to colonize other planets and establish cost-effective means of inter-planetary travel and transportation, it’s a sheer waste of money going to Mars to plant a flag. Even that can be done by a drone.
Time to invent the warp drive – perhaps, President Obama can just will it to happen, as he has done with reducing our unemployment rate.
Another Crappy Toyota And They Kept Selling It
4:52 pm, April 13th, 2010 on Miscellaneous
Consumer Reports has rated the latest 2010 Lexus GX 460 a Don’t Buy: Safety Risk. The SUV has been selling for almost 3 months and Toyota has sold 5,000+ already.
The defect in the vehicle is rather basic and I find it hard to believe that Toyota could not have detected this issue during its own internal testing, and over the past 3 months of sales. It costs almost a billion dollars to develop and release a new model – is Toyota cutting corners and endangering us all?
The company has now halted sales – but, is it good enough?
Real Life Avatar: Whither The Blue People?
3:01 pm, April 13th, 2010 on Liberalism, Media
No, There's No Moral of This Story
So, apparently, we have a real-life Avatar scenario going on right now in the Amazon:
Director James Cameron said Monday that a real-life “Avatar” battle is playing out in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest, where indigenous groups are trying to halt the construction of a huge hydroelectric project.
… Cameron said he was in Brazil’s capital to support Indian and environmental groups as they stage protests against the Belo Monte dam project.
… He said he came to Brasilia on his own initiative because he was drawn to the activists’ plight.
Apart from its stunning visual effects, Avatar barely adds anything new to the world, but leave it to the liberals, and it becomes the new 95 Theses.
My question: Whither the blue people in Brazil? Or, is brown the new blue?
Palm Pixi and Palm Pre Can’t Make Palm Free
2:37 pm, April 13th, 2010 on Technology

Palms
Remember Palm - the first smartphone and PDA company that everybody stopped using way back when? Well, it had come out with Palm Pixi and Palm Pre, 2 phones based on its new WebOS platform, but both have crashed and burned rather ingloriously.
The company is now mulling a sale. Should Microsoft buy it? After all, MS has bought most of its most successful products (Word, Excel, etc.) and its smartphones haven’t been doing too well recently. Plus, Redmond needs some new blood and ideas to stanch the outflow of brain and bodies.
Anyone for re-starting Microsoft’s famous picnic and restoring some of those lost benefits that have sent people over to Google and other competitors?
A Majority of Americans Still Against the Tea Party
So, there are 2 ways to interpret every statistic. Rasmussen opted for the positive one…
Twenty-four percent (24%) of U.S. voters now say they consider themselves a part of the Tea Party movement, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That’s an eight-point increase from 16% a month ago.
Another 10% say they are not a part of the movement but have close friends or family members who are.
And, then, there’s the other side:
Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters say they have no ties to the Tea Party movement. Eleven percent (11%) more are not sure.
That translates into a 55-24 majority of Americans who are against the Tea Party. At best, that would be 55-34.
If that’s the way the 2010 election turns out for Tea Partiers/GOP sympathizers, good luck with repealing Obamacare.
The Futility of a College Education
12:18 am, April 10th, 2010 on Miscellaneous
This cartoon by a Dartmouth kid sums it up well:

What Did I Learn?
Don’t Want a Hobo in Your House? Then, Don’t Keep Him in Your Shed
12:09 am, April 10th, 2010 on Miscellaneous
That’s the lesson learnt by this 72 year old woman who had a homeless man living in her shed. You just can’t trust drunk, heavily armed, perverted hobos, now can you?
Forehead Tittaes: When You Need Encouragement
11:32 pm, April 9th, 2010 on Miscellaneous
RIP: Fighting Sioux No More
10:44 pm, April 9th, 2010 on Liberalism

Replaced!
Political correctness has scored another victory over freedom of speech and college mascots.
University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux have been left bereft of their mascot and name because it offends some liberal.
I like donor Ralph Engelstad’s solution: build a private stadium and display the mascot prominently.
More War of Words Between Israel and Turkey
10:29 am, April 8th, 2010 on Israel/Palestine, Middle East

Erdogan Morphing?
It seems Israel and Turkey are determined to provide us all with constant entertainment.
On Wednesday, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s far-right and slightly nutty foreign minister claimed about the Turkish PM:
Erdogan is slowly turning into Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi or Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. It’s his choice. The problem is not Turkey; the problem is Erdogan
In childish retaliation, Tayyip opined in Paris:
Israel [is the] the principal threat to peace in the Middle East
Lieberman is quite the diplomat as is Erdogan, and both seem to be washing some kind of personal dirty laundry in public. We should settle this dispute the old fashioned way: duel!

Lierberman: I am mad but just this much
Is MA Ready for Another Republican Gov?
4:44 pm, April 7th, 2010 on Politics
According to Rasmussen Reports, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick faces an uphill battle in his re-election bid. Facing a former Democrat in Tim Cahill and moderate Republicans, Patrick seems to be only barely leading, as of April 5:
| Election 2010: Massachusetts Governor | |
|---|---|
| Christy Mihos (R) | 15% |
| Deval Patrick (D) | 38% |
| Tim Cahill (I) | 33% |
| Not sure | 14% |
| Election 2010: Massachusetts Governor | |
|---|---|
| Charlie Baker (R) | 27% |
| Deval Patrick (D) | 35% |
| Tim Cahill (I) | 23% |
| Not sure | 15 |

Wondering About His Next Job?
MA voters have preferred GOP Governors since 1991, with Patrick being the first Democrat since Dukakis. Moderate GOP candidates won 4 elections in a row before the 2006 devastation. If Patrick is polling such terrible numbers this early in the race, it seems highly unlikely that he will be re-elected.
Charlie Baker and Tim Cahill are both centrists, as opposed to Patrick’s far left politics. Either one would be more capable of leading Boston out of its financial mess.
The 2 Crappiest Airlines to Merge Creating Absolute Abomination
2:59 pm, April 7th, 2010 on Miscellaneous

God Help Us
US Airways and United Airlines, both universally regarded to be among the absolute worst airlines in the world by most measures, are in talks to merge.
Even the unions are opposed to a union. I suppose they realize you can’t have all the bad apples in one big bad basket.
- Travel+Leisure posits it as the second worst airlines, second only to American
- a simple Google search for “crappiest airlines” yields United as the number one result
- MSNBC/Portfolio has declared it to be the worst airlines ever
US Airways is just as bad:
- The Hotel Club rates it as the worse of the worst
- FlyerTalk is hardly any more charitable
- Consumer Reports ranked it as the absolute worst, even before its infamous disruptions in 2007
United and US are a match made in heaven.
Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva?
2:10 pm, April 7th, 2010 on Asia

Roza
So, apparently, the opposition has taken effective control of the government in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, says self-proclaimed interim leader Roza Otunbayeva:
I hope we have control of the whole situation, but at the same time I must tell you that there is a lot of work
Since, the media hasn’t come up with a color for the Kyrgyzstan revolution yet, I suppose Ecru will have to do, as it matches Roza’s skin color. The last time it was called the Tulip Revolution and, surely, colors can’t be re-used.
As an aside, why does Kyrgyzstan even exist?
Unilateral American Concessions on Nukes, But Whither the Russians?
12:29 pm, April 7th, 2010 on Democraps, Liberalism, Russia
Admittedly, nuclear weapons are an anachronism in today’s world of guerrilla warfare and suicide bombing, but they still provide a useful deterrent to rogue states like Iran and North Korea. Nukes are still a psychological goal for any nation trying to achieve a position of military strength and understandably so.
As such, it makes little sense for the U.S. to voluntarily or unilaterally reduce its nuclear arsenal or usage scenarios, if nobody doing the same and if there exists a clear threat to the country. These threats include terrorists getting a hold of nuclear weapons from North Korea, Pakistan or any other unstable nuclear state; China, whose nuclear program and intentions are still unclear; Iran, North Korea and other rogue states; a resurgent Russia; and so on.
The Obama administration has now proclaimed: Read on »



