Saturday, September 18, 2010
Senate Republicans Would Double The Deficit
Claiming again that 'trickle-down' economics work...
Senate Republicans are rolling out a plan to permanently extend an array of expiring tax breaks that would deprive the Treasury of more than $4 trillion over the next decade, nearly doubling projected deficits over that period unless dramatic spending cuts are made.
The Republican promise is that 'dramatic spending cuts' will be made but they refuse to say exactly which part of the pork belly will be incised.
So, McConnell is going to use the same mechanism that President Obama will use, a bipartisan deficit commission, "if it's a responsible report that I can support." (Translation: if the bipartisan report meets McConnell's Republican agenda then he will support it. If it doesn't then he will summarily dismiss it as a left leaning initiative.)Asked how McConnell would cover the cost of his proposal, the Tax Hike Prevention Act, aides noted that he has backed a bipartisan plan to freeze spending that would save an estimated $300 billion over the next decade - a drop in the bucket compared with his $4 trillion-plus plan.For the rest of the cash, McConnell has said he will turn to the same place as Obama: a presidentially appointed, bipartisan deficit commission that is due to issue its report in December."This is not going to be your typical commission that's going to issue a report, sit on the shelf and gather dust," McConnell said last month on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We'll wait for their report. And I intend, if it's a responsible report that I can support, to encourage my members to support it."
Senator McConnell with his use of perfect politician double-speak has supported Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy calling their reinstitution "raising taxes" while offering no substantiative recourse but to follow the existing President's plan.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Ok, lets do away with big government...
I am convinced... we need to do away with meddlesome big government that has imposed so many limits on my personal freedom. Ok, here goes...
Lets start with the Federal Food and Drug Administration. I am positive that the pharmaceutical industry is fully capable of looking out for my best health interests. Moreover I am equally sure that the food producers of this great nation would never do anything to jeopardize our food supplies. (Anyway, what are a few rodent feces among friends.)
And here is another, The National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB). So what if seat-belts save lives. You should hear what they are up to next, seat-belts on school buses. Can you believe that nonsense? Them's prolly the same folks that says I cain't drink a beer while I am runnin' my BassMaster2000 to my favorite fishin' hole. What kinda nonsense is that, cain't drink and fish?
And don't get me started on the Department of Education. Puh-lease, dontcha think we know best what our kids learn in school. We don't need no gov'ment beaur-o-crat telling me what my kid needs to be teached in school. Worse 'n that, damned gov'ment don't need to be telling God fearing folks what they can or cain't teach in they own schools.
An' how 'bout the A-T-F an then they went and added the E. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and now Explosives. What a royal pain in the bee-hind. First of all ain't nobody should tell me how many and what kind of guns I should have. It is my constitutional right to own guns... er, wait, the constitution is the power of the government, I mean, it is the government's responsibility to uphold the constitution. Right? Its actually the government that protects the rights of the people, people like me, right?
So I want some government...just not the parts that I don't agree with. Yeah, thats it. I want gov'ment to keep control of all them other folks that make me feel small or stupid or poor or disenfranchised or unhappy or disappointed that my candidate didn't win. I want a gov'ment that keeps me safe from all those other folks and doesn't keep me from doing the kinds of things that I want to do. 'Cause gov'ment don't have no right to tell me what to do.
An' that's why I say lets do away with big gov'ment.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Monday, September 06, 2010
Satisfaction Guaranteed
by David Stark
In 1904, German sociologist Max Weber traveled to Oklahoma where he conducted field research, leading to an article, “Church and Sect in North America,” and his most influential book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. A century later, the megachurches of Oklahoma City seemed an appropriate setting to witness recent developments in the relationship between religious experience and contemporary capitalism.
Please tell me if you would rather not receive my postings.
Rampaging wild boar draw pleas for military response - 'Nuff said.
Rampaging wild boar draw pleas for military response
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rampaging-wild-boar-draw-pleas-for-military-response-2071304.html
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
AP
Wild boars foraging in fields near Munich. Their population has risen dramatically in recent years
They are laying waste to crops in record numbers and their snouts are seriously damaging the autumn harvest. But soon the rampaging wild boar that have been causing havoc in rural areas of Germany could be gunned down by army marksmen, if farmers get their way.
The call for a military response comes from landowners in the wine and crop-growing western Rhineland-Palatinate region, where boar have destroyed hundreds of hectares of maize and torn up the earth so badly with their snouts that combine harvesters have been brought to a standstill. "The farmers are boiling with rage yet the problem can't be solved by using regular hunters anymore," said Norbert Schindler, the president of the regional farmers' union. "They are trying hard but they just can't cope. Why can't the army be drafted in to help?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rampaging-wild-boar-draw-pleas-for-military-response-2071304.html
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Saturday, September 04, 2010
No Divorce for Married Gay Couples In Texas | The Atlantic Wire
There! That oughta learn 'em, by golly! Serve 'em right fer gitting inta such a mess in the first place.
LIGHTNING ROD
No Divorce for Married Gay Couples In Texas
Even though gay marriage isn't legal in Texas, that hasn't prevented opponents from taking that extra step: banning already-married gay couples from getting a divorce in the state. In a ruling reported by the Dallas Morning News, the state's 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas has reversed a decision that allowed gay couples to legally dissolve their marriage. The ruling is quickly becoming another case-study of the trench warfare that's taking place between gay rights advocates and opponents across the country.
Puzzlin' time...
Tom Toles nudges the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations toward a tenable solution:
Friday, September 03, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Men! Women can't live with them and ...
Women love men ...
Because
they never understand us, but they never give up.
Because they write poems, songs, and books in our honor.
Because because they can never fake orgasms, even if they wanted to.
Because they can see beauty in women when women have long ceased to see any beauty in themselves.
Because they come from little boys.
Because they can churn out long, intricate, Machiavellian, or incredibly complex mathematics and physics equations, but they can be comparably clueless when it comes to women.
Because they are incredible lovers and never rest until we’re happy.
Because they elevate sports to religion.
Because they’re never afraid of the dark.
Because they don’t care how they look or if they age.
Because they persevere in making and repairing things beyond their abilities, with the naïve self-assurance of the teenage boy who knew everything.
Because they never wear or dream of wearing high heels.
Because they’re always ready for sex.
Because they’re like pomegranates: lots of inedible parts, but the juicy seeds are incredibly tasty and succulent and usually exceed your expectations.
Because they’re afraid to go bald.
Because you always know what they think and they always mean what they say.
Because they love machines, tools, and implements with the same ferocity women love jewelry.
Because they go to great lengths to hide, unsuccessfully, that they are frail and human.
Because they either speak too much or not at all to that end.
Because they always finish the food on their plate.
Because they are brave in front of insects and mice.
Because a well-spoken four-year old girl can reduce them to silence, and a beautiful 25-year old can reduce them to slobbering idiots.
Because they want to be either omnivorous or ascetic, warriors or lovers, artists or generals, but nothing in-between.
Because for them there’s no such thing as too much adrenaline.
Because when all is said and done, they can’t live without us, no matter how hard they try.
Because they’re truly as simple as they claim to be.
Because they love extremes and when they go to extremes, we’re there to catch them.
Because they are tender they when they cry, and how seldom they do it.
Because what they lack in talk, they tend to make up for in action.
Because they make excellent companions when driving through rough neighborhoods or walking past dark alleys.
Because they really love their moms, and they remind us of our dads.
Because they never care what their horoscope, their mother-in-law, nor the neighbors say.
Because they don’t lie about their age, their weight, or their clothing size.
Because they have an uncanny ability to look deeply into our eyes and connect with our heart, even when we don’t want them to.
Because when we say “I love you” they ask for an explanation.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010
There are more people alive today...
The total number of humans that have ever lived has been estimated at 110 billion.
Approximately 6% of all those people are alive today.
Approximately 6% of all those people are alive today.
Figure 1: Human Population Growth over Time
The human population growth of the last century has been truly phenomenal. It required only 40 years after 1950 for the population to double from 2.5 billion to 5 billion. This doubling time is less than the average human lifetime. The world population passed 6 billion just before the end of the 20th century. Present estimates are for the population to reach 8-12 billion before the end of the 21st century. During each lecture hour, more than 10,000 new people enter the world, a rate of ~3 per second!
Of the 6 billion people, about half live in poverty and at least one fifth are severely undernourished. The rest live out their lives in comparative comfort and health.
Link: Population Growth Over Human History
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