Peace Corps: Travel to Foreign Lands, Serve Your Country, Get Raped, Get Lost, You Slut
Via Pat Dollard.
NY26 Special Election: Better Get Behind Jane Corwin [UPDATED]
Can't let Progs get away with fronting faux TEA Party candidates to split the vote, or they'll decide it's a worthwhile strategy:
You may remember in February when “fit fun classy guy” Rep. Chris Lee (R-Stupid) resigned from Congress after being caught trolling Craigslist for dates. That set up a special election to fill the seat, now scheduled for May 24 — two weeks from today.
Republican county chairs picked Assemblywoman Jane Corwin as their candidate, while Democrats picked an obscure county official, Kathy Hochul. This is a strong Republican district in western New York and Corwin, who also has the crucial endorsement of the state’s Conservative Party, should be running away with this.
Alas, there is the Crazy Jack Davis, a once-upon-a-time Republican who, in 2004, 2006 and 2008, ran for the NY-26 seat as a Democrat. Crazy Jack has now managed to get himself on the May 24 ballot as a “Tea Party” candidate. Of course, he’s not in any way representative of the Tea Party movement, and is supported by no Tea Party organizations, but nevertheless — funny how these coincidences happen — Davis has the “Tea Party” ballot line.
Crazy Jack Davis is a millionaire protectionist. As Sam Foster pointed out at Red State, “His signature issue, his raison d’etre has to do with our nation’s trade imbalance . . . He wants to cancel all free trade agreements in favor of something he calls ‘balanced trade.’ ” Which is utter nonsense, of course. (How is it that some people — Donald Trump is another — become millionaires without understanding basic economics?) “Balanced trade” is just a variation of economic nationalism which, in turn, is a straight road to the planned economy. But if you don’t yet understand why free trade is better policy than protectionism, there’s no point in my lecturing at this point: You’re on the wrong blog, pal.
And Little Miss Attila has the scoop on the Beverly Hillbillies striking it rich a second time.
Hot damn, boys, Scott D'Amboise needs your contributions to take on Olympia Snowe. What kind of contributions? Urgent ones. He needs them urgently.
UPDATE: Here are a couple of anti-Crazy Jack ads, courtesy of Evil Giraffe.
Occasionally, SPAM from Friends is Actually Funny/Sad/Poignant
DUNNO WHO AUTHORED IT. BUT IT'S GOOD.
TO: Honorable Secretary of Agriculture
Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir,
My friend, Ed Peterson, received a check for $1,000 from the government for
not raising hogs. So, I want to go into the "not raising hogs" business next
year.
What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not
to raise hogs on, and what is the best breed of hogs not to raise? I want to
be sure that I approach this endeavor in keeping with all governmental
policies. I would prefer not to raise razorbacks, but if that is not a good
breed not to raise, then I will just as gladly not raise Yorkshires or
Durocs.
As I see it, the hardest part of this program will be in keeping an accurate
inventory of how many hogs I haven't raised.
My friend, Peterson, is very joyful about the future of the business. He has
been raising hogs for twenty years or so, and the best he ever made on them
was $422 in 1968, until this year when he got your check for $1000 for not
raising hogs.
If I get $1000 for not raising 50 hogs, will I get $2000 for not raising 100
hogs? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to
about 4000 hogs not raised, which will mean about $80,000 the first year.
Now another thing, these hogs I will not raise will not eat 100,000 bushels
of corn. I understand that you also pay farmers for not raising corn and
wheat. Will I qualify for payments for not raising wheat and corn not to
feed the 4000 hogs I am not going to raise?
Also, I am considering the "not milking cows" business, so send me any
information you have on that too.
In view of these circumstances, you understand that I will be totally
unemployed and plan to file for unemployment and food stamps.
P.S. Would you please notify me when you plan to distribute more free
cheese. The last batch had a little mold on it but it was still mighty good
eating.
You can get your very own from Dan for a $5 tip jar hit.
A Singularly Sketchy Biography
Jack Cashill investigates how the lacunae in Stanley Ann Dunham's record--particularly those relating to Obama Senior--get papered over in NYT reporter Janny Scott's account. From what Cashill says, I'm guessing that the nude photos aren't mentioned or analyzed, either.
Over at WND, there's a "bombshell" story about how, in relation to second husband's attempt to get a visa extension, US authorities were perplexed about 5-year-old Barack's citizenship status, because of lack of documentation. After inquiry, it was determined that Barry was a US citizen by virtue of being born in Honolulu. The article places much more emphasis on the lack of documentation than on the nature of the finding. Yawn.
Unrelated, mostly: Ace rewrites Atlas Shrugged as a movie review. I'd link it, too, if I could get it to load.
Terrific Piece on the Abbotabad Mission
by James Lewis at American Thinker. A taste:
Taking out bin Laden was a win-win-win. Bin Laden dies a martyr, and the Moo Bro mobs have a new reason to burn American flags. Obama gets to play Patton to launch his reelection campaign. Musharraf and the Pak military get more US dollars.
The only thing the administration got wrong was the story. The White House didn't know what was going down until Panetta told them. They didn't want to know. This is the "Vote Present" president, remember? He only wants to own up if he knows he can take a victory lap for what the SEALs did.
Once they knew the hit was over, they staged an Obama Drama for the media cameras. Our JournoLiars are so deeply sunk in phony news that they were happy to get even a BS story. Only the liberals believe them, anyway, and they are mental robots. Obama's been refusing the media access for months, making them hungry for big headlines. Well, here's their perfect break, and it just happens to fit the Party Line.
But then Leon Panetta said one thing and Carney said the opposite, and Hillary a third, John Brennan a fourth, and Barry, Jr., came up with a whole slew of lies, day after weary day. Bloggers were picking holes in all the stories as fast as they came out.
Then the White House confessed that the heroic Situation Room photo was faked -- the video feed had been interrupted.
{Source}
Yesterday, the Grauniad reported that this kabuki had been agreed between the US and Pakistan some time ago.
Stacy, who's been under the weather but seems on the mend, has more.
Question: Are there any openly gay superheroes, apart from Aquaman? I think that if US citizenship-renouncing Superman doesn't do something about this (like maybe give his X-ray vision to some gay dude), he should be a member of the League of Superhomophobes.
Texas Still Denied Disaster Relief
I visited this story about a month ago, when only one million acres had burned, but Ed Morrissey updates us:
Over two million acres have been burned in Texas in wildfires that stretch from “border to border.” Two firefighters have already died. The effort to get the fires under control threatens to overwhelm the state, but the Obama administration has thus far refused to declare Texas a federal disaster, a declaration that would allow more resources to flow into the state to fight the fires. How urgent is this for Texans? Rep. Francisco Canseco (R-TX) put together a video demanding action, and Governor Rick Perry tweeted it out last night with this message to his followers : “Welcome Obama to Texas. Up the pressure on denied disaster relief.”
Read the rest, including video.
Fortunately for Obama, the media won't turn this into a Katrina for him, even though the combustion of all those trees must throw a lot of CO2 and unhealthy aerosols into the atmosphere. Because the EPA.
Fuckers.
Scott Cleland has a handy overview of Google's slimy business practices, though he fails to note the company's actual distortion of search data as political in-kind donations.
Eric Holder on bin Laden in 2010
Yeah, the guy who's investigating agents and their superiors for enhanced interrogation techniques.
What is Eric Holder talking about? In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Holder said,
You’re talking about a hypothetical that will never occur. The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom. That’s a reality—that’s a reality.
Don’t we want to catch bin Laden and bring him to justice? Isn’t that something we’re supposedly trying very hard to do, in reality? According to the Washington Post, Holder, who was answering a question from John Culberson, a Texas Republican, went on,
The possibility of catching him alive is infinitesimal. He will be killed by us or he will be killed by his own people so he can’t be captured by us.
If Holder thinks bin Laden’s own people would be willing to kill him so that we don’t take him prisoner—well, that might be a clue that we’d gain some benefit from doing so. He might know some things that would be helpful in dismantling the organization he leads. And what is more debilitating to the myth of bin Laden: to have him made a martyr, or to see him humbled in a courtroom, convicted by a jury? A conviction, after all, is a route to punishment (including, possibly, the death penalty)—not a reward.
And what is more debilitating to our own image than an attorney general who seems unable to imagine that possibility? According to the National Law Journal’s account, Holder “declined to say what the government would do with bin Laden if it captured him alive.”
There's video and more analysis in Amy Davidson's March 17, 2010 piece for the New Yorker, so go check it out.
Mothers Day Public Pensions, Finance, and Unions Mayhem 2011
These stories are stinking up my browsers. I want to close my tabs for ma's day.
A gift that gives to me.
STATES FACING REALITY, MAKING HARD DECISIONS
A couple states look at their budget situations, and decide the thing to do may be to cut the school calendars down. California is likely going to have to cut a lot more than just the school year.
A Q&A session about the state of public pensions and "legal restraints". Legal restraints can't keep the money coming in.
Ugly demographics in West Virginia, and many other places... and guys, it's not just lack of immigrants that means that you've got more deaths than births. There are places with plenty of immigrants that are just bleeding residents.
People are told that hey - they're living longer, they should be working longer. No one wants to hear that stuff, though, do they? Actuaries always wonder why we're so unpopular. It's the slide rules, isn't it?
I'm going to be harsh for a moment. You're bummed that you can't go to Texas to visit the grandkids? Tough shit. You should've saved up. A couple hundred years ago you would have been dead of cholera by age 40, so be happy! For people who are dying of our own gluttony and ease, we are a bunch of whiny bitches, aren't we?
Some governors are still huffing glue or something. The pension funding has "stabilized" to the extent that many of the states have decided what level they'll fund at... not that the benefits are at all likely to ever reach 100% funding given current policy. Yes, many states are okay. But Illinois, California, New Jersey, Rhode Island.... and I could go on.... are not okay.
CALIFORNIA
An interesting comparison was made between defined benefit and defined contribution plans for teachers in California. I haven't checked the numbers myself in the study, made by these guys, and frankly, it sounds a bit fishy to me though Marcia Fritz and her crew have generally played straight. But I know about how number-crunching can go wrong, especially when you're looking for particular results and you're rushing to publish (which reminds me, I have some major deadlines over the next two weeks, so I'll likely be silent for a while). Here's a different post on it, and they didn't just look at the teachers plan... other comparisons sound more in line with what I'd expect.
We're going to be hearing a lot about San Fran's pension proposals this year. So here's the latest from the NY Times. An excerpt:
The proposed change would allow the city to pay vast sums it owes to the pension fund over 10 years instead of five. The change would save the city about $30 million a year over the next few years — but would cost the pension fund considerably more than that over the course of the decade because the fund would have less capital and thus lower investment returns.
Leaders of the public-employee unions, under pressure to sharply increase their members’ contributions to the fund as the city struggles to close a $306 million budget gap, pitched the accounting change to David Chiu, a mayoral candidate and the powerful president of the Board of Supervisors, in a meeting Tuesday.
....
The city attorney’s office ruled last month that the proposed accounting change could not legally be included in the amendment to the city charter that unions and city officials hope to put on the ballot this fall. Thus the unions’ aim is to get city leaders to join them in pressing the pension-fund board to seriously consider the idea, which would allow the pension fund to “smooth” its recent losses over 10 years.
Oh, "smoothing". That "friend" ... until now.... of public unions and politicians (and actuaries). I understand the theory, and it's not necessarily objectionable, given we all do it -- more or less -- but most of us do not do it to the extent that governments get away with it. There's an issue of balance sheet, and then there's an issue of cash flows. And while the smoothing can make the balance sheet look better for a while, the real stuff is the cash flows that have to be covered eventually. If they take too long to fill the hole, the cash flows of the pension payments will not be made.... ask the (dead, unpaid) pensioners of Prichard, Alabama about that. They can tell you what happens when the money runs out.
L.A.'s fiscal troubles aren't merely pensions but also "stealth bonuses".
A real cost savings for taxpayers in San Diego as current employees agree to contribute to their pensions.
Corrupt pols in Cali rejoice as they can still collect their pensions.
HAWAII
Legislature reducing benefits for new hires. It's a start.
ILLINOIS
Hey, new Mayor Rahm! How you like these apples?
First, you change pensions for new workers. Then you change pensions for current workers. You know what the next step is, right? The state treasurer thinks they might be onto something.
But wah wah wah, no you can't cut. We'll see about that.
If I were these guys, I'd get out of the state. You don't have to be in the state to collect the pension, and people are less likely to show up with pitchforks on your lawn. If they decide to cut off your pensions, you can just as easily deploy your lawyers from Arizona as from Schaumburg. But if I were the lawyers, I'd require retainer, and not work on contingency... the pickings may be slim.
Guess what? Illinois still has a lot of unpaid bills. Cheers!
If I were a business, I'd be careful about overpaying taxes.
They already raised taxes in Illinois, but it wasn't enough. Let's see what happens next.
NEW JERSEY
Open Space trust fund used to pad a pension. Also from John Bury, the very rare occurrence of lawyers lying.
A tax assessor is making money from 9 different towns. Not necessarily nefarious (in NJ? mwa ha ha ha), but of course it doesn't look good.
NEW YORK
State pension fund making big bet on natural gas.... a local resource issue. This is not what I call diversifying risk.
RHODE ISLAND
Firefighters union supports probe into fraudulent disability pensions.... because it's really really bad PR, and they'd like to hang onto any DB pensions, thank you very much.
Providence, RI, is looking at reducing its costs by being able to revoke pensions of any corrupt public employees..... deal!
CANADA
People weren't too happy to find out how well the recently-fired MPs would be taken care of. So current MPs say they'll look into that. Sure.
Kloppenburg Komedy
The city of Brookfield, and Waukesha County in general, have been the heart of the attack by JoAnne Kloppenburg's recount forces seeking to overcome a 7316 vote deficit.
As discussed yesterday, the strategy was to contest whether ballot bags were properly sealed, the implication being that Prosser forces stuffed the ballot bags. In so doing, Kloppenburg hoped with one fell swoop to disenfranchise an entire city in the hope that speculation and conjecture about the possibility of ballot stuffing would keep her hopes alive.
Remember, kids: Every vote is sacred, unless it goes against you.
What a horrible, desperate woman.
Follow Dan!
All the Kool Kidz are doing it...
Creature Commentariat
- Mike Giles on Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation
- Enoch_Root on Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation
- Lance McCormick on Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation
- Enoch_Root on Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation
- Mary Mullane on Rasmussen: Consumer Confidence Falls to New 2 Year Low and other Polls
Categories
Recent Grist
- Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation
- Cruise Ship Tragedy & Bain Capital
- The Mansion of Your Life (an open letter to Grandchildren)
Feed the Kraken.
Sponsors
Blogroll
- A Voice from the Closet
- Ace of Spades HQ
- adeliemanchot
- American Power
- American Thinker
- Anchoress
- AnthropoCon
- Baby Troll Blog
- Backyard Conservative
- Bad Science
- Baldilocks
- Big Feed, The
- Big Government
- Big Hollywood
- Big Journalism
- Bit Maelstrom
- Blackfive
- Blog Prof
- Blogshevik, The
- Bob Belvedere
- Bookworm Room
- Brussels Journal
- Catawissa Gazetteer
- Chap-O-Matic
- Chris Wysocki
- Christopher Taylor
- Classic Liberal, The
- Coach Is Right
- Coalition of the Swilling
- Conservatives4Pailin.com
- Coordinated Illumination
- Corner at NRO
- Cranky Conservative
- Cynthia Yockey
- Da Techguy
- Daily Caller, The
- Daily Mush, The
- David Thompson
- DC Trawler, The
- Don Surber
- Doug Ross @ Journal
- Dustbury
- Emerging Corruption
- Eye of Polyphemus
- Fausta's Blog
- Feed Your ADHD
- From the Right Lane
- Front Page Mag
- Gateway Pundit
- Goldfish and Clowns
- Grand Rants
- HAEMET
- Heartland Murmurs
- Hot Air
- I Own the World
- I Wish I Was a Geordie
- IMAO
- Iowahawk
- Is This Blog On?
- James Gunn
- James Joyner
- Jammie Wearing Fool
- Javelina Bomb
- Jawa Report
- Jennifer Townsend Photography
- Jimmie Bise
- Johanna Hopes
- John Hawks Weblog
- Jookoos News
- Just Russ
- Kathleen McKinley (Rightwingsparkle)
- Kill Truck
- King Shamus
- Knifework
- Lead and Gold
- Legal Insurrection
- Liberty at Stake
- Liberty At Stake
- Lightning News, The
- Little Miss Attila
- Luminarium
- Maggie's Farm
- Man Pants (Ninnuh's blog)
- Mark Steyn
- Medary
- Meepbobeep's Journal
- Melanie Phillips
- memeorandum
- Mi Vida Loca
- Michael Yon
- Michelle Malkin
- Midnight Blue
- Mike Hendrix & Co.
- Mike in New Hampshire [RIP. Never forgotten]
- Mind Numbed Robot
- Miserable Donuts
- Moxie
- MsUnderestimated
- My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
- Naked Empress
- Natural Born Conservative
- Neo-neocon
- Newsbusters.org – Exposing Liberal Media Bias
- Nice Deb
- No Sheeples Here
- Oatmeal, The
- Obi's Sister
- Old Grouch
- Once Upon a Time in the Webs
- Opera Rat: The Blog
- Paco Enterprises
- Pal 2 Pal
- Paragraph Farmer, The
- Patterico's Pontifications
- Phelony Jones
- Pixie Place II
- POH Diaries, The
- Pool Bar, The
- Potluck
- Power Line
- Public Secrets
- Pundit & Pundette
- pw
- Q and O
- Question Obama
- Radical Middle
- Redstate – Conservative News and Community
- Renner's Here
- Rhetorican
- Rhymes with Right
- Ric's Rulez
- Richard Fernandez
- RightNetwork
- Ruby Slippers
- Salty Droid
- Sanity Inspector, The
- Scott Effin' Burgess
- Serr8d's Cutting Edge
- Seven Deadly Sins
- Sissy Willis
- Six Meat Buffet
- Snark. And Boobs.
- Sono Annoiato
- South Texian
- Stop the ACLU
- Sultan Knish
- Supply Side Politics 2.0
- That Mr. G Guy's Blog
- That's Right
- The B-Cast
- The Blago Files
- The College Politico
- The Conservatory
- The H2 – New Location, Same Retardation
- The Hayride
- The Other McCain and Smitty
- The Rude News
- The Trogolopundit
- Theo Spark
- Three Beers Later
- Tigerhawk
- Tim Blair
- Trevor Loudon
- Unreligious Right, The
- Useful Info Nation
- Useful Info Nation Blog
- Vally of the Shadow
- Vanderleun
- Verum Serum
- Victor Davis Hanson
- Vodkapundit
- Walking on Eggshells
- Washington Examiner
- Watts Up with That?
- Weasel Zippers
- Yid with Lid