Day: February 4, 2009

2009 Anal-Ocity

This is gonna be a GREAT year for anal bullsh!t……

I could not let this one go past with helping the man out…..morons cannot just shut their mouths.

Today’s anal-ocity comes from Bishop Richard Williamson of the Catholic Church….that is right, Irene…the CATHOLIC CHURCH!

Williamson has said that during WWII millions of Jews were NOT murdered and even went so far as to say, “not a single Jew died in the gas chambers during this period”.

We may have a winner……this is a white Catholic dude making this statement not some little short shit in the Middle East…….are you proud now?

I am still waiting for the rest of the world to get outraged like they do when that midget from Iran say the same basic thing.  If it is ludicous state ment by some Arab then it is the same for some white bigot Catholic.

More Talk On The RNC Leadership

God knows I have been a vocal opponent of the new RNC leader Steele, but now I must distance myself from the criticism.

Former Klansman David Duke, who ran for governor of Louisiana, is blasting the newly appointed chairman of the Republican Party as a “black racist.”

In a lengthy process on Friday, GOP leaders voted former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele into the party’s leadership post.

Steele is the first African-American to hold that position.

Duke described those who supported the move as “traitorous,” and cited Steele’s positions on gun control, affirmative action and the death penalty in a sometimes rambling condemnation posted on his personal Web site.

“I think the insanity of nominating ‘Mr. Amnesty’ John McCain and now this black racist will lead to insurgency in the Republican ranks,” Duke said.

He further referred to Steele as “Obama Jr.” and a “servile dog of Israel.”

While he has been largely off the mainstream political radar for years and no longer lives in Louisiana, Duke is still politically active, speaking largely to a fractional segment of the spectrum.

This may not seem like a big deal to most…but I am an old fart and have a bit of a history with Duke so anytime him and I agree, even slightly, is cause for concern.

I cannot be in the same company as Duke….oh BTW look for Duke to make the “Assies”.

Stimulus Is Needed–So Spend!

I try to give all sides to any situation…so that there can be understanding of each position….yes, I do have my beliefs and I will inject them wherever I think they are needed.  This spending plan of Washington is so little understood and much criticized by opponents that it is hard for the average American to get a good grip on what is truly happening.

This is from an article written by economist Edward Lotterman.

The current debate about the Obama administration’s $850 billion fiscal stimulus plan propagates such misconceptions that I feel compelled to put aside my general skepticism about how well such Keynesian policies work in the real world and explain—and even defend—this particular package.

The plan seems destined to pass, with Thursday’s House approval of an $819 billion version, largely on partisan lines, getting it halfway through Congress. The Senate is expected to approve it this week. Then, over time, we will see its actual effects. Meanwhile, Americans need to understand how countercyclical policies— those designed to counter extremes of the business cycle – like this one are intended to work and what they are intended to accomplish. There are at least two issues on which there is much confusion:

Issue 1 — Does some spending stimulate and other spending not? Opponents of the administration’s plan argue that it includes spending that won’t provide any economic stimulus. House Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, cited a line for broader Medicaid provision of birth control. “How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives? How does that stimulate the economy?” (This provision was removed from the House bill at Obama’s request.)

Both Boehner and Brooks labor under a misconception about Keynes’ ideas. They apparently assume that stimulus is limited to make-work efforts like those started by Herbert Hoover and expanded by Franklin Roosevelt. Stimulus apparently only occurs if some one can link some specific job to a specific project funded by a specific federal budget item.

But Keynes’ idea of the effects of government spending was much broader, not a one-to-one linking of outlays and jobs. Increased government spending can boost “aggregate demand,” the broad willingness and ability, across society as a whole, for households and businesses to buy things. The total amount of additional government spending is important. Exactly what it is spent on is not nearly as important, at least in terms of the stimulus effect.

Yes, money should be spent as wisely as possible in terms of producing public goods and services that benefit society. But that is a separate issue from general boosting of an economy that is falling into recession.

Issue 2 – Can counter-cyclical policies make an economy grow faster? Some conservative think tanks argue that a stimulus package is doomed to failure because economic growth can only come from increased productivity, in other words from more output per worker, and that additional federal spending does not increase productivity.

This is true over the long run. Government spending in general cannot increase the long-term growth rate of a nation. But when a nation is in serious recession, when many resources, both human and capital, are standing unused, then increased government spending can indeed foster greater output by putting idle resources back to use. And we clearly have increasing levels of idle resources right now.

One can find examples, such as 1930s Germany, where increased government spending clearly ended severe recession as a side effect of reaching another goal. It is much harder to find examples of where overt Keynesian micromanagement of garden-variety recessions accomplished much. Indeed, research by Christina Romer, a Berkeley professor who now heads Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, found that fiscal stimulus efforts generally accomplished little.

Does that mean the administration’s stimulus plan is a bad idea? I’d say no, because we don’t face a garden-variety recession right now. Many indications point to the broadest and deepest economic slowdown in 80 years, one substantially more severe than any in the 1970s or 1980s.

In 1936, Keynes noted that a Depression-weary world was receptive to new ideas. “At the present moment people are … particularly ready to receive it, eager to try it out if it should be even plausible.” The administration’s fiscal stimulus package is far from a slam-dunk. But it is plausible and the likely potential benefits outweigh the possible costs. I’d try it.

#3 Gets Electrocuted In Iraq

Back in July of 2008, 18 &31 to be exact, I wrote a couplke of posts about American soldiers being electrocuted in their showers in Iraq.  It ain’t over!

A third U.S. service member has been determined to have been electrocuted in a shower in Iraq, and Navy criminal investigators are investigating, The Associated Press has learned.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class David A. Cedergren, 25, of South St. Paul, Minn., died Sept. 11, 2004, while showering. His family was told he died of natural causes.

Late last year, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology changed the manner of Cedergren’s death to “accidental,” caused by electrocution and inflammation of the heart. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has reopened an investigation into his death, Ed Buice, a NCIS spokesman, said Monday.

Cedergren’s death is among 18 electrocution deaths — 16 U.S. service members and two military contractors — under review as part of a Department of Defense Inspector General inquiry. Improperly installed or maintained electrical devices have been blamed in some of the deaths, while accidental contact with power lines caused others.

The inquiry primarily involves electrical work done at a facility where a Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, was electrocuted while showering in January 2008.

Maseth’s death was initially considered accidental, but is now classified by Army investigators as “negligent homicide” caused by Houston-based contractor KBR Inc. and two of its supervisors. An Army investigator said the contractor failed to ensure that “qualified electricians and plumbers” did the work. The case is under legal review.

Last year, Maseth’s family sued KBR in Allegheny County, Pa., alleging wrongful death. The case was moved to federal court in western Pennsylvania, where it is pending.

Another service member electrocuted in Iraq while showering in a U.S.-maintained facility was identified in a congressional report as Army Cpl. Marcos Nolasco, 34, of Chino, Calif. Investigators concluded he was electrocuted when an ungrounded water heater shorted, the report said.

It is bad enough that we ask these men to face death daily but I think it is sad that they are dying at the hands of American contractors cutting corners or some such crap.  It is unacceptable.

US Teacher Accused Of Genocide

Leopold Munyakazi had been working at Goucher College near Baltimore under a program for academics whose lives are threatened at home.

He has denied any involvement in Rwanda’s genocide.

Some 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu militias in just 100 days in 1994.

Sanford Ungar, president of Goucher College, said in a letter to students and faculty that he became aware of charges against Mr Munyakazi when a journalist and a Rwandan prosecutor came to the college in December.

They told him of witnesses testimonies that Mr Munyakazi, 59, had “participated directly” in the genocide.

Charges had been prepared in 2006 after Mr Munyakazi had given a “controversial talk” in the US questioning the Rwandan government’s version of the genocide, Mr Ungar said.

“Dr Munyakazi vehemently denies any involvement in committing genocide, and in fact has presented evidence that he assisted numerous Tutsis in fleeing Hutu killers,” the letter said.

Mr Ungar said the Rwandan, who started teaching French at the college in September, would be suspended from his job pending further investigation.

An official at Rwanda’s embassy in Washington said Rwanda had asked for Mr Munyakazi and five others to be returned to the country.

Here is an idea–hold him for trial in Gitmo…….