Month: February 2011

Some Things Remain The Same

I was one of the fortunate people that after I came back from Vietnam I was lucky enough to find a job, not necessarily a good job, and made my way in society even though carry a heavy load of mental demons….but many of my comrades from that war were not as lucky as I and the homeless rates for Viet Vets was and is shameful….shameful that some of the returning vets were NOT given that attention that they needed to make the adjustment to a civil society…..it has been a blot on the country’s response to the needs of veterans……

We Americans have NO stake in the veterans lives….since it is an all volunteer militarytheir plights do NOT touch but about 10% of the population….we have NO stake….for that reason vets are in essence being ignored…….

From a poll conducted by the USA Today……

About 16% of homeless adults in a one-night survey in January 2009 were veterans, though vets make up only 10% of the adult population.

More than 75,000 veterans were living on the streets or in a temporary shelter that night. In that year, 136,334 veterans spent at least one night in a homeless shelter — a count that did not include homeless veterans living on the streets.

The urgency of the problem is growing as more people return from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The study found 11,300 younger veterans, 18 to 30, were in shelters at some point during 2009. Virtually all served in Iraq or Afghanistan, said Mark Johnston, deputy assistant secretary for special needs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The people of the country owe these men and women a debt that we are refusing to pay…outta sight…outta mind…….it is shameful and disgusting that a country that sends our young off to die….cannot get the courage to give these vets the respect and the care they so rightly deserve……..

The more things chage the more they remain the same…….

Why Bureaucracy?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Political Theory/Political Administration

This is a continuation of a discussion that one of my most avid readers, Quin of Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll to get to his site)……we have discussed the evils of the heavy bureaucracy that is prevalent in democracies…..but I want to talk about the bureaucracy on the local or state level this time…..

I will talk about my state…Mississippi……(thanx for all the sympathy cards)……..the state has 82 counties….and in some cases the county seats are less than 25 miles apart….the counties were created around land ownership, in most cases or were created in the days of the horse and buggy as the only mode of transportation….those days are gone and so are the days of the necessity for so many different jurisdictions…..

The capital city of Jackson and its suburbs are located in 3 counties…..the Coast, which is about 26 miles long, has three repeated county seats…..Hattiesburg, locate between Coast and the Capital, and its suburbs cover 2 counties, maybe three……my point is, if the state is truly wanting to saving money it is time for some realistic consolidation…..eliminate all the duplication….K.I.S.S. and consolidation is the simplest solution…..

All that is a worthless waste of resources just to keep the “good ol boy” system in place….states are struggling to save money and balance their budgets and still offer the services that the people need….but instead of looking at reality they attempt all sorts of revenue generating schemes that in the long run harm the people that they say they are trying to help…..

Elected officials need to cease all this bantering and pseudo-fixes to the administration of government and look for real solutions….no matter if they are popular or not……eventually a real statesman will appear and do what is necessary….until then…..budgets will be crap and the people will suffer while the politicians keep lying and cheating the people out of their future…….sorry to be a downer……but we need to face reality and stop sticking our heads in the sane and exposing our butts to the politicians….they WILL take advantage……

Another good plan for the people’s money…..where I live the local courthouse decided to build a new parking garage….they tore up an existing parking lot and when the garage was built they gain about 3 new parking spaces…..but it was imperative that it be built…….the old parking lot was perfectly good but they had to have a garage and the couple extra parking spots cost about $1 million each…..not bad if you are a contractor, huh?  God I love this stuff!

Side Note:

One appointment in a memo announcing White House staffing changes sounds like something from a future Harvard Kennedy School case study of what went wrong: Emmett Beliveau was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Chief of Staff.  God, I love this stuff…it just keeps getting better and better……

Civil Disobedience Comes Home!

From the VOMITORIUM

In the last month all of the Middle East has exploded into protests…..by now we all have heard the reasons….no jobs, little food, little pay, total breakdown of society for the people and a well spring for the authoritarian a/holes that hold the power….somewhere I though it would be good if Americans would get off their lazy butts and start demanding that the pigs in Washington would start acting as a true rep of the people….so far I have been sadly disappointed….we Americans stand by and allow the crap to happen…..

But wait!  Wisconsin has revved up and the public employees are protesting the bill by their new governor that would target unions, especially public service unions…trying  to eliminate collective bargaining, screwing with their pensions and their health care….basically it is an attack on unions….a typical GOP strategy…that and trying to eliminate any organization that deals with the poor……

All the pundits whether Right or Left have been calling this action by the governor as a way to attack the state budget and that the protesters are just cowards for NOT caring about the state deficit……25,000 protests have descended on the state capital of Madison to voice their disapproval of these targeted actions….

Let us look a little closer at the situation……as of January whjen the governor took office there was an expectation of a budget surplus of about $120 million…..but shortly after the swearing in….the Repub governor and his cronies in the GOP lead legislature passed a sweeping bill that spent $140 million on the special interests that paid him for his campaign…..news pundits say that the people need to do the math….I agree……a $125 million surplus minus the $140 million bill mean that there will be a deficit…….a deficit that the governor the legislature brought onto the people of Wisconsin and now the public employees are asked to make up the shortfall……I WOULD BE PISSED TOO!

Oh by the way….there are exemptions from the cuts those would be the police union, firefighters union and the state troops union…….in case you are interested…these 3 unions were the ones that supported Walker in his campaign…..coincidence?  Like Hell!

A few more tidbits……

The Fiscal Bureau memo — which readers can access here — makes it clear that Walker did not inherit a budget that required a repair bill.

The facts are not debatable.

Because of the painful choices made by the previous Legislature, Wisconsin is in better shape fiscally than most states.

Wisconsin has lower unemployment than most states.

Wisconsin has better prospects for maintaining great schools, great public services and a great quality of life than most states, even in turbulent economic times.

Unfortunately, Walker has a political agenda that relies on the fantasy that Wisconsin is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Walker is not interested in balanced budgets, efficient government or meaningful job creation.

Walker is interested in gaming the system to benefit his political allies and campaign contributors.

Any deficit that may occur in Wisconsin had NOTHING to do with the public employees and their benefits….but rather a well timed plan to destroy anything union…….the middle class workers MUST pay for the benefits that the governor has given to his handlers and their interests…..

Repubs are PIGS!  Attack anything that represents the workers….now please tell me whose has the best interests of the middle class at heart….why does the middle class keep voting for the very people that are out to destroy them?

Here is another thought….if they succeed in Wisconsin…NO public employee will be safe anywhere in this country…..

A Butt Load Of Stuff

It is the weekend and I try to find something unusual that will help me wind down from the week of politics and economics…….while reading Jonathan Turley’s blog I found this post about an arrest in Florida…..

In Sarasota County, Florida, Neil Lansing, 34, proved a virtual Cornucopia during a cavity search during booking. Officers removed everything short of his lawyer in their routine search.Lansing’s rectum contain 30 items, including 17 Oxycodone pills, 1 cigarette, 6 matches, 1 flint, 1 empty syringe with eraser over needle, 1 lip balm container, 1 condom, 1 CVS receipt, and a coupon.

What can you say?  I cannot make this stuff up…this guy had a drug store shoved up his butt to include a receipt……a whole new definition of “a butt load of stuff”……….

And The Survey Says!

If you watch the news occasionally then you have heard about all the studies that these medical journals report on….eggs are bad ……..coffee is bad for the kidneys…….Viagra will give you a boner…..on and on……but how accurate are all these studies in reality?

AS reported on naturalnews.com…..

(NaturalNews) If you read research in a scientific or medical journal, especially one that is peer-reviewed, you know it is presented as accurately as possible, right? Researcher Daniele Fanelli of the University of Edinburgh decided to study the scientists doing the studies to see if she could find the answer.

After conducting the first meta-analysis of surveys questioning scientists about their misbehavior behind the scenes — notably, falsifying their research — she came up with results that are nothing less than shocking. It turns out that researchers apparently alter or just plain make up data far more frequently than previously estimated. And the practice seems to be particularly high in medical and drug research.

The results from all the surveys showed that only about two percent of scientists admitted to either making up or altering data to improve the outcome of a study at least once. Because the surveys asked very sensitive questions, Fanelli pointed out that it likely that some respondents did not reply honestly, especially when asked about their own activities. So the two percent figure is probably a very conservative estimate.

A much larger number, around 34 percent, admitted to other questionable research practices that can totally skew the results of a study — including “failing to present data that contradict one’s own previous research” and “dropping observations or data points from analyses based on a gut feeling that they were inaccurate.” What’s more, 14 percent of the scientists said they knew someone who had fabricated, falsified or altered data, and the vast majority, around 72 percent, said they knew someone who had taken part in other questionable research practices.

The next time you see a study or report on something that may effect you and your health…..then just wait….It will most likely turn around and be not as bad as originally reported…….all that grant money and I do not get a dime….DAMN!

2011 Anal-Ocity #9

Yes, it is that time again…..some public official has to put his foot in his mouth….this time it is Sen. John McCain….no5t that he is immune from making an anal statement…God knows he made enough of them while running in the ’08 election….but you would think that a senior senator would be a little more careful when making a blanket statement…….

With all the turmoil in the Middle East….McCain stood up and said……

“You will not see this type of dissent coming from Iraq”……..  (it is a paraphrase but you get the idea)

It seems he believes that the forced democracy of Iraq will be immune to the civil unrest that is gripping the area……OOPS!

Journalist David Walsh reporting on the situation in Iraq…….

The wave of protest in Iraq against government corruption, unemployment and wretched public services entered a new stage Wednesday.

A protest by 2,000 people against lack of jobs and electricity in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut, some 160 kilometers south of Baghdad, turned deadly when private guards employed by the provincial government fired directly into the crowd. Reports differed as to the number of fatalities, between one and three; some 50 people were injured. One of the dead was a 16-year-old boy shot in the chest.

After the shooting outside the Wasit provincial government headquarters, the enraged crowd attacked the building, an eyewitness told the Washington Post, “as the governor escaped through a back door with his bodyguards … Footage broadcast on Iraqi television showed black smoke billowing from the headquarters as protesters clambered over walls into the compound. Other members of the provincial council also reportedly escaped, and the Iraqi army was called in to quell the turmoil.”

Once again Sen. McCain shows a serious lack of a grip on the situation…..maybe it is time that he consider retiring to the countryside and joining some lobbyist firm that deals with the Pentagon…..his judgment is seriously lacking……

Put Lipstick On A Pig

WARNING:  Some may find this post will use language that some readers may find offensive….read at your own risk……

Does anyone remember this lame attempt at humor from the McCain/Palin camp during the ’08 campaign?  Well there is a PIG that needs to be brought to light…..well, there are probably more than one, but this PIG has a special place in Info Ink Hell……and will probably get an award of some sort at year’s end…..but who am I going on about?

Debbie Schlussel….a conservative talk show host, blogger, columnist, attorney and all around C**T……..I realize that women do NOT like the term C**T…but if anyone deserves the title it is this person (and I use the term loosely)………

What could she have done that makes her so distasteful to me?

By now I am sure that most people have heard about the CBS contributor that was sexually attacked and beaten on the Friday that Mubarak split from Cairo….while the people of the country are sending condolences and support to the journalist……Miss Schlussel had this to say about the person and the attack…….

As I’ve noted before, it bothers me not a lick when mainstream media reporters who keep telling us Muslims and Islam are peaceful get a taste of just how “peaceful” Muslims and Islam really are. In fact, it kinda warms my heart.

… How fitting that Lara Logan was “liberated” by Muslims in Liberation Square while she was gushing over the other part of the “liberation.”

Hope you’re enjoying the revolution, Lara! Alhamdilllullah [praise allah].

Up until this point I had not heard of this PIG and I can see why…..she is a C**T!  There are some on the Right that will listen to this rant and find some truth in her words….to those people I say…..F**K YOU!  There is nothing in her words but the ramblings of a low class, bitter and an unfeeling C**T……..even lipstick will NOT improve this PIG!

Who Was First?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Black History/American History

It is Black History Month, where the accomplishments and achievements of Afro-American citizens have had on the country…we celebrate our diversity and our citizens……

Last year I wrote a post about the Father Of The Civil Rights Movement”….Thomas Paine (go to search and type in Paine’s name and read his contribution and why I say that)…..this year I ask which was the first state to issue a abolition act?

Since I find Paine an interesting and forgotten Founder….it plays into the question…..

The answer for those who are not aware of this……it was the state of Pennsylvania…..the Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act of 1780….and with this act the “preamble”, if you will, was said to be written by Thomas Paine while he was employed by the Pennsylvania Assembly……the “preamble” is as follows:

When we contemplate our abhorrence of that condition to which the arms and tyranny of Great Britain were exerted to reduce us, when we look back on the variety of dangers to which we have been exposed, and how miraculously our wants in many instances have been supplied, and our deliverances wrought, when even hope and human fortitude have become unequal to the conflict, we are unavoidably led to a serious and grateful sense of the manifold blessings, which we have undeservedly received from the hand of that Being from whom every good and perfect gift cometh. Impressed with these ideas, we conceive that it is our duty , and we rejoice that it is in our power to extend a portion of that freedom to others which hath been extended to us, and release from that state of thraldom to which we ourselves were tyrannically doomed, and from which we now have every prospect of being delivered. It is not for us to inquire why in the creation of mankind the inhabitants of several parts of the earth were distinguished by a difference in feature or complexion. It is sufficient to know that all are the work of an Almighty Hand. We find in the distribution of the human species that the most fertile as well as the most barren parts of the earth are inhabited by Men of complexions different from ours and from each other; from whence we may reasonably as well as religiously infer that He who placed them in their various situations, hath extended equally His care and protection to all, and that it becometh not us to counteract His mercies.

Not only was Paine there in the original fight for the emancipation of slaves….but his words were strong and eloquent, just as they were in Common Sense that lead Americans to demand independence…….and the birth of the nation……

Few history books tell the whole story of the fight for freedom for the slaves……take nothing away from people like MLK or Malcolm X or Harriet Tubman or Douglass or any of the champions of freedom for the oppressed…..but in the same vain…take nothing away from those that worked tirelessly with no credit for the work they did……

Granted Thomas Paine is NOT a black person but he did more in the early days of the republic to free the slaves than any other of the Founders and he should be remembered for the work that he did…….

Good News! Economic Growth!

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Economics Growth/Politics

Yes, there is some good news with the US economy…..regardless of what may happen in the future, it is growing……

At first glance, the 3.2 percent growth rate for gross domestic product looks light, considering economists polled by Reuters expected a 3.5 percent pace.

However, the figures show consumer spending growing at the fastest rate in four years and international trade providing a surprisingly large lift. Both show an economy that is pulling more of its own weight, an important development as government stimulus spending fades.

As they have said….not as good as expected but better than it could have been……but there is a few questions that I would like answers to about the world recession…..first, did the recession really effect the entire globe?  If it did…then explain this………

Growth in Sub Saharan Africa rebounded strongly in 2010. GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have expanded by 4.7 percent in 2010, up from the 1.3 percent growth recorded in 2009 and just shy of its pre-crisis average growth of 5%. However, the slower growth rate in the region’s largest economy South Africa (2.7 percent) dragged overall growth in Sub Saharan Africa for 2010. Indeed, excluding South Africa, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at 5.8 percent in 2010, up from 3.8 percent in 2009. Growth in the region was supported by both external and domestic developments.

I would have expected the Third World (to use an archaic term) to lag further behind the so called Industrialized world……And I realize that you can have growth and still have a crappy economy……but……Please one of you that are an expert in international economics explain this to me and my readers…….Why is their growth so much better than ours?  What are they doing right?  Or what are we doing wrong?

Bumping Our Heads On The Ceiling

We hear it everyday now….the “Debt Ceiling”….but what is it?

James Hamilton put it well back in 2006:

One of the peculiar embarrassments of the American political process is the fact that Congress votes separately on the deficit and debt, as if they were two different decisions…

If the government is (a) required by the deficit legislation to spend, and (b) precluded by the debt legislation from borrowing, the Treasury would be forced into default. The greater the likelihood markets attach to such an event, the higher will be the interest rate the government has to pay on Treasury debt. A politician who votes for the spending and tax measures that produced the deficit but against a debt ceiling consistent with these is deliberately wasting taxpayer dollars for no purpose other than to grandstand before voters as a “fiscal conservative”. Anyone playing such a game has complete contempt for the intelligence of their constituents.

We are bombarded every day with this politician or that about the national debt and why we need to raise or ignore the ceiling……some say screw it!  Let the government shutdown…..others say we need to protect the nation and our credit rating in the world….and others just do not seem to care……but what is the story behind each of these positions?

From Rep. Michelle Bachmann……darling of the Tea Party….

With the national debt at $14 trillion and counting, Congress’ spending frenzy cannot continue.It’s time to force our elected officials to stop spending cold turkey, and we can start by making sure they do not raise the debt ceiling.

That’s why I’m asking you to personally tell Congress not to increase the amount of money the government can borrow by signing your name to the “Don’t Raise the Debt Ceiling” petition. To date, we’ve collected over 75,000 signatures for this petition. But I know we can collect more. So I’m challenging conservative activists to collect an additional 50,000 signatures in the next week. Will you help me reach this goal?

The President’s front man on this is Austan Goolsbee….

Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers, said if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, the “impact on the economy would be catastrophic.”

“I don’t see why anybody’s playing chicken with the debt ceiling,” Goolsbee said today on ABC’s “This Week” program. “If we get to the point where we damage the full faith and credit of the United States, that would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity.”

There are two options…..increase it or not…if it is NOT then the government will showdown…is that a good thing to do just to make a point?  It was done in the 1990’s when Newt and the boyz were there in the House….a mini revolution if you will……but is it a good idea?

  • Shutdowns actually cost the government more money ($800 million last time according to Time) than it would otherwise spend and, therefore, increase the deficit compared to what it otherwise would be. Departments and agencies have to begin to implement shutdown plans within a few days of the possibility that their appropriations might expire. At a minimum, this involves additional communications security, building maintenance needs.
  • The last shutdowns taught us the definition of “essential services” because of a ruling by the attorney general that, even if no appropriation had been enacted, the government may continue to do whatever this might be. But there’s no agreed-upon list of what is “essential” and last time the definition seemed to change as the shutdowns continued.

Will the government shut down?  Doubtful….sadly all this is just another political game that the mindless twits are playing…..they are trying to intimidate…..the use of threats……Keep in mind that the deficit and the debt are NOT necessarily the same thing, although ALL spending is interconnected…….Nothing about this will create a job….and if memory serves me right……that was the promise of the GOP….to create jobs…not to continue the play these political games…..

Just how many of you, out there, think that this is a good direction for the government to travel?