No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

August 23, 2010

Backhand Smashes – Lazy Days of Summer edition

by @ 19:06. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Once again I’ve let the Feed Reader of Doom™ overgrow everything. Let’s see what’s inside:

  • Lawhawk found that even the tiniest of profits in Philadelphia get whacked with a $300 “business privilege license”. That sound you hear is Benjamin Franklin increasing the revolutions of his corpse.
  • Randall Hoven asks and answers the question, “Which was higher between FY2003 and FY2008 – spending on the Iraq War or federal spending on education?” Hint – the cumulative FY2003-FY2010 deficits would have been between $4 trillion and $5 trillion with or without the Iraq War.
  • Related (H/T – Fausta) – The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the “baseline spending” by the federal government (what the government is expected to spend if the laws that are in effect at the time continue, with any scheduled expirations happening on-time) for FY2008-FY2018 has increased by $4.4 trillion (including actual spending in FY2008 and FY2009) between January 2008 and August 2010. Bonus item #1 – instead of spending a projected $4.2 trillion in 2018, the federal government is now expected to spend $5.0 trillion in 2018.
  • Bonus item #2 – The Heritage Foundation has some startling figures from that CBO report – the deficit nears $2 trillion in 2020 (and that’s with no more Bush or Obama tax cuts), the publicly-held debt of $23 trillion will exceed 100% of GDP by 2020, and over half the above-the-historical-average tax revenues (with or without tax-cut extension) will go to servicing interest on said debt.
  • Jim Geraghty raises the GOP House predictions. Wisconsin interests include the 7th as a “GOP has a good chance of winning”, the 8th as a “GOP chances about 50-50” and the 3rd as “GOP should win with luck or wave”. Speaking of the 3rd, Dan Kapanke is on Geraghty’s Bakers’ Dozen low-profile upset potentials.
  • James Wigderson found the “normal Feingold supporter”. I’m shocked, SHOCKED to find it is a DC lobbyist.
  • Even the Associated Press is noting that neither rain nor gloom of failed international relations (well, I put the second part in) is keeping Teh Won from his appointed rounds of golf.
  • CDR Salamander has the graph of the day – the total national defense spending between 1947 and 2011 in both inflation-adjusted numbers and as a percentage of GDP. Question number 2 for you the gentle reader – which is higher – defense spending as a percentage of GDP in 1979 or 2009? Hint – the Commander’s exit quote is, “I call them the ‘Terrible 20s’ for a reason.”
  • Eric predicts what will happen in the latest Israeli/Palestinian “Peace” talks. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

If this were morning, it would be a Scramble. However, I had to sneak these past the egg inspectors.

August 20, 2010

Friday Moronosphere read – Eddiebear’s “You want hate, I’ll give you hate”

by @ 17:04. Filed under Compassionate Lieberals.

Eddiebear unloads on the oh-so-“compasionate” left that wants to fuck over his daughter’s future. Needless to say, the post is most certainly NSFW as it has 32 f-bombs in the post and pleny more from us Morons in the comments. Instead of excerpting it, I give you the short version of “Casino”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j_B-GhvPgU[/youtube]

Just got polled

by @ 14:55. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

I wish I could remember the name of the outfit because it was a very-clean poll (no pushing, very short), but the Democrat Party of Wisconsin is doing polling in the 21st Assembly District. The questions (in order):

  • How likely are you to vote in the November election (definitely, likely, not likely, won’t be)?
  • Who do you support for US Senate, Democrat Russ Feingold or Republican Ron Johnson?
  • How strong is your support for (the Senate candidate – very, somewhat)?
  • Who do you support for governor, Democrat Tom Barrett or Republican Scott Walker?
  • How strong is your support for (the gubernatorial candidate)?
  • Who do you support for Assembly, Democrat Tom Michalski or Republican Mark Honadel?
  • How strong is your support for (the Assembly candidate)?
  • How often do you vote for a particular party (always, mostly, 50/50) – note; the pollster did start with the Republicans based on the both the previous answers I gave and the fact I was rushing him through the call.
  • For statistical purposes, what is your age?

The DPW won’t be too happy with my answers, but other than putting their guy first in the order of candidates listed, it was very professionally done. The gentleman doing the poll did mention his firm twice, once at the start of the poll, and again when I asked at the end of the poll, which is when he mentioned the firm he was working for was doing it for the DPW. It will be interesting to see just how much of the poll the DPW will eventually release; if they do release it.

Tweet of the week

by @ 13:32. Filed under Health, The Blog.

This one comes from @GovKaineBrow (those of you in The Ed Morrissey Show chatroom know him as Boxnox):

BREAKING: FDA Egg recall widened to include all NoRunnyEggs blog posts by Steve Eggleston. #tems @steveegg u gotta break eggs 2 make a blog

That explains my near-absence this week.

Seriously, there is a 380-million-egg recall going on now, and it does have a Wisconsin tie – one of those sickened at Baker Street Restaurant and Pub is suing the Wright County Egg Company, the target of said recall.

Free Shoebox – at least his genitals!

by @ 6:26. Filed under Free Shoebox.

Hey, hey, ho, ho, Shoebox should be free to go!

Yes, I’m traveling again. Actually, it’s the first time in an airport since the Shoe family relocated to Kentucky. This morning finds me enjoying the hospitality of the TSA at Kansas City International (MCI).

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of passing through MCI, let me set the scene. MCI was built long before anyone ever worried about members of the “religion of piece” flying airplanes where they shouldn’t be flown. MCI has 3 separate half moon shaped terminals which were great in their day. However, since the addition of security walls, checkpoints etc., it now resembles a human version of a habitrail!

I got to the airport well in advance of my flight and was greeted with my first experience with a backscatter X-ray. Yes, this is the X-ray that is all the rage. Yes, this is the X-ray that takes images that shows more than just metal in your pocket! Yes, this is the X-ray that TSA claimed they do not keep the images of pseudo naked people. Yes, this is the X-ray that TSA has been forced to admit that they do keep images of pseudo naked people.

As I’ve said before, I have no personal issue with the backscatter technology and the images the TSA does or doesn’t keep. This is likely a guy thing but I figure if you can see my genitals while my clothes are on, that’s OK!

So, I head through security and towards the backscatter X-ray. As I get to the stainless steel tables where I normally take all the metal out of my pockets, remove my shoes, liquids and electronics, I am greeted by a TSA employee who informs us that they are now using a “new security system.” He goes on to inform us that this new fangled security system that is costing gross millions of dollars to deploy, is no longer satisfied with just having shoes, metal, liquids and electronics removed. Nope, this new fangled thing is so advanced that you now have to empty every last item out of your pockets; paper, vitamin pills etc…and your belt! If you don’t, I was informed, you will be patted down!

Yup, that’s right; the newest the TSA has to offer for security, the backscatter, a technology that can take a photo of my genitals without a microscope, can’t tell the difference between a piece of paper and something that could be used to threaten aircraft saftey!

Nice job TSA! You’ve taken a process that was inconvenient at best, and made it dehumanizing. You’ve inserted new “better security” and once again in the process, managed to make it further impacting on the public you serve while arguably not making a lick of difference in air security. Nice job TSA!

As an aside…do you know what you call 100,000 government employees at the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start!

August 19, 2010

What? Me Worry?

by @ 9:30. Filed under Economy, Economy Held Hostage, Politics - National.

Alfred E. Neuman was and is smarter than Joe Biden!

Jobless claims at 9-month high

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 in the week ended August 14, the highest since mid-November, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

From Biden – the Oracle of the Economy

I have to admit that I thought we were all being set up when at the end of April, Vice President Biden said:

Well, I’m here to tell you, some time in the next couple of months, we’re going to be creating between 250,000 jobs a month and 500,000 jobs a month.

I thought for sure that Biden was just giving us another chorus of happy talk from the administration. I didn’t see anyway, at least by looking out my economic window, that the economy was about to do anything regarding jobs, that would be at a level of nearly 500,000!

I was wrong! Vice President Biden was right!

Today, in another unexpected surprise, the Labor Department announced that new claims for unemployment insurance rose to 479,000! Admittedly, that’s not 500,000. However, I have to give VP Biden kudos for having the foresight to predict a number that appeared incredibly outlandish to us rubes on the sidelines. 500,000 would have been great but 479,000 is nothing to sneeze at! Great job Vice President Biden! It surely is “Recovery Summer!”

Uh, what?…He predicted 500,000 new jobs but we have nearly 500,000 new people collecting unemployment? Um….that’s not good!

Never mind!

I doubt Obama’s unpopularity will be improving anytime soon. In the event that any of the Libs are still wondering why the American people have become so “stupid” as to turn against the rainbows and unicorns in every pot…..It’s the economy, stupid!

August 17, 2010

Late-Tuesday Hot Read – WSJ’s “Uncle Sam, Venture Capitalist”

by @ 21:45. Filed under Business, Energy, Politics - National.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board did something that the local presstitutes didn’t do, and looked into the subject of the non-political “justification” for the first day of Obama’s campaign tour so his campaign, Tom Barrett’s campaign, and the DPW didn’t have to pay for the trip, 30-employee ZBB Energy. They’re not-exactly financially viable:

We wonder who in government looked at ZBB’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since going public in June of 2007, ZBB has been hemorrhaging money. The firm lost $4.9 million in fiscal 2008 and $5.5 million in fiscal 2009. In its most recent filing, in May, it said it had lost $6.9 million for the first nine months of its current fiscal year. It explained it had a “cumulative deficit” of $44.1 million and informed shareholders that it “anticipates incurring continuing losses.” It acknowledged that its ability to continue as a “going concern” was predicated on its ability to drum up additional funds.

In March the company engaged in various stock transactions—including a private placement to the company’s directors—to raise some $1.9 million. It obtained a $1.3 million loan from the federal stimulus program and borrowed $1.5 million more from Investors Bank. In June it announced a debt agreement, which would allow it to tap a further $10 million….

The company also acknowledged in its May filing that the 72,000 square foot manufacturing facility it bought in 2006 is “currently producing at less than 10% of its expected capacity.” That means it can’t currently access the $14 million in federal tax credits, which were supposed to help with equipment for a new facility. Meanwhile, private investors have soured on some energy-storage companies. ZBB’s initial public offering was priced at $6 a share in 2007, and it closed yesterday at 70 cents. (Note – it closed today at 66 cents)

ZBB’s chief financial officer, Scott Scampini, acknowledges the losses and tells us that one problem was that the old management thought “people would just jump and buy this stuff.” New management, he says, now has a “real business plan” to become cash-flow positive in “short order”—by becoming cheap enough to be “competitive with fossil fuels.”

I hate to break the bad news, but the two methods of producing energy that are dependent on batteries aren’t going to be competitive on a cost basis anytime soon (at least unless all the conventional methods of producing energy are made prohibitively-expensive) – solar is at least twice as costly as conventional power, and at least in Wisconsin, wind farms is going to become even more expensive than the 50% premium as the Public Service Commission is expected to require compensation to nearby landowners.

WISN-AM’s Mark Belling spent much of the first hour of today’s show on this, including taking a rather testy phone call from ZBB CEO Eric Apfelbach (starting at about the 5:40 mark in Hour 1 Part 2 of today’s podcast). Belling got Apfelbach to admit the Porkulus loan (of which $490,000 was already tapped) didn’t create a single new job despite the anticipation that it would create 175 jobs, and that he is a Crony “Capitalist” who is more than happy to suckle off the teat of government.

August 16, 2010

Obama Should Have Learned From Rand Paul

by @ 12:29. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Shortly after Rand Paul won the Kentucky Senate primary in May, he found it necessary to revisit the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In particular, he questioned whether the part of the law dealing with racial discrimination by private businesses that are deemed “public accommodations” might be a violation of private property rights.  This is clearly a legitimate question to entertain in a law school constitutional law class.  During a political race, not so much.

Last week President Obama found it necessary to weigh in on the mosque near Ground Zero controversy.  Professor Obama schooled us all on the First Amendment as seen by the Founding Fathers.  And according to Obama, the mosque would have been a “go” for James Madison and the boys.  He might be correct as a constitutional matter.  But as a political matter, not so much.

Just like Paul appeared to be giving intellectual cover to racially motivated actions, Obama appeared to be giving intellectual cover to those who want to build an ostentatious structure honoring Allah within a stones throw of the site where nearly 3,000 Americans were incinerated by followers of Allah, in the name of Allah.

Earth to the President.  I have a constitutional right to put my toilet in the living room instead of the bathroom and use it while entertaining guests.  Guess what?  I don’t.

Every rational person knows that the decision to construct a mega-mosque near Ground Zero is a political statement.  The President is America’s politician-in-chief.  His failure to understand the impact of his words on the people of New York (and all of America) is yet another example of Obama’s academic, above-the-fray view of the world.  His Party is going to pay dearly in November.

Obama campaigns for Tom Barrett today….personally, I love the idea

by @ 7:52. Filed under Miscellaneous.

August 14, 2010

Weekend Hot Read – Baseball Crank’s High Quality Starts series

by @ 20:03. Filed under Sports.

Baseball Crank took full advantage of Baseball-Reference.com putting every box score since 1920 and every play since 1950 into a database, and he found and sorted the 188 pitchers who gave their teams a real chance to win with no more than ordinary offensive/bullpen support at least 100 times since the end of the dead-ball era.

First, I should explain that the official “quality start” (6 or more innings pitched, 3 or less earned runs) isn’t a real measure. You’re depending on 3 innings of pen work night after night, and your defense could easily cost the team any chance of winning because runs scored as a result of an error aren’t “earned”. Crank upped it to a 7-inning minimum and a 2-run (earned or otherwise) maximum, and renamed it “High Quality Start” to get things to at most the setup/closer and keep things close enough for the offensive half of the Earl Weaver Maxim to win it.

Some of the names on the list shouldn’t surprise Milwaukee fans – Warren Spahn (who has the highest number of wins off of HQS), Lew Burdette, Don Sutton (who has the most HQS), Jim Slaton and CC Sabathia. What is somewhat surprising is that Slaton is the only player who spent significant time with the Brewers; in fact, Slaton got 80 of his 100 HQS in Brewer Blue to lead the team.

A couple more Brewers’ notes: How special was the half-season Sabathia spent here in 2008? 10 of his 112 HQS came in the last part of 2008. Meanwhile, Yovanni Gallardo has 20 HQS in his 74 games started. While that ratio will get him onto the 100 HQS list eventually, he won’t get onto the rarified 200 HQS list unless he picks it up.

August 12, 2010

Leave a week, polls don’t change (much)

by @ 10:12. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Actually, things did get worse for the Democrats, despite Rasmussen Reports finding a continued lesser dislike for President Obama in Wisconsin as of 8/10 (49% approve/50% disapprove/Approval Index of -11) than nationally (45% approve/54% disapprove/Approval Index of -20). Even that was a worsening of things, as Obama was actually in positive overall territory in Wisconsin at the end of last month (51% approve/48% disapprove/Approval Index of -13).

Similarly, soon-to-be-ex-governor Jim Doyle had a slight drop in approval, going from 38% approve/60% disapprove/Approval Index of -28 to 38% approve/60% disapprove/Approval Index of -29.

First up, the Senate race. Both the Cook Report (via John McCormack at The Weekly Standard) and the Rothenberg Political Report moved the race to a pure toss-up while I was gone.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen released a fresh poll showing essentially no change over the last 2 weeks. While Ron Johnson’s lead over Russ Feingold dropped from a rounded 48%-46% to a rounded 47%-46% (with no rounded change in either “other” or “not sure”), Feingold’s favorables moved from 52% favorable/44% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of 0 to 50% favorable/47% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of +3. Indeed, Feingold’s attacks on Johnson are backfiring, as Johnson’s favorables improved from 51% favorable/36% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of +6 to 51% favorable/33% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of +8.

On the gubernatorial side, all the news has come from Rasmussen. In the freshest poll Scott Walker maintained a healthy lead over Tom Barrett (49%-41% versus 50%-43% at the end of July), while Mark Neumann has his first lead over Barrett (45%-43%) since the end of June, mostly on the strength of a renewed focus on what he would do as governor. Based on that, they have joined Real Clear Politics in placing Wisconsin as a “Leans Republican” state.

Walker continues to be the most-popular of the candidates, maintaining favorables of 49% favorable/38% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of +6. While that is down from late-July’s 55% favorable/36% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of +9, he has the support of 90% of Republicans and over 50% of independents against Barrett. In fact, the Walker campaign just sent over a press release saying Walker is up 8 points on Barrett among independents, and 7 points better than Neumann among conservatives against Barrett.

Neumann’s focus on what he would do as governor also paid dividends beyond the lead against Barrett. His favorables improved from 47% favorable/44% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of -7 to 50% favorable/35% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of -3, and he has the support of 81% of Republicans and over 50% of independents against Barrett.

There is a bit of an oddity among the 38% plurality that strongly oppose (49% overall) the PlaceboCare insurance mandate. Despite Neumann’s early laser-like focus on opposing PlaceboCare, Walker has greater support among those that strongly oppose the insurance mandate in the matchups against Barrett, getting the support of 85% versus Neumann’s 75% support.

Meanwhile, Barrett’s favorabilities have begun to slide much like Obama’s and Doyle’s approval. It’s down from 50% favorable/43% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of -4 to 46% favorable/44% unfavorable/”Passion” Index of -5.

August 11, 2010

Absolutely hilarious: Liberals bashing a top liberal

by @ 21:01. Filed under Miscellaneous.

It is incredibly uproarious to watch unfold. Democrats, who historically eat their own, with critical elections coming in the fall, are beating each other up.

Seems a fair a number of liberal bloggers, you know, oh, let’s just pick one to give you a clear picture………..

Yes, I’m talking about the ones who generally hide behind cowardly anonymous monikers and can’t argue their way through a wet paper bag and resort to sophomoric attacks generally laced with profanities….yeh, that’s the bunch…..have been moaning and groaning and whining and crying that the great Obamessiah, the almighty who was going to turn us into the USSR overnight has just been too slow in ramming socialism and uber-liberalism down our throats. It’s bad enough how he’s damaged the country. These ignoramuses want him to do more and they want it NOW!

Out behind the curtain, stepping up to the podium is the Commander- in -chief’s  #1 butt kisser, Robert Gibbs!!!

 

Obama’s top spokesman angered the Rhoades scholars by saying they need to be drug-tested.

Bravo, Mr. Gibbs! The first thing you got right since you took the job!

Again, does November sound or seem like anything important to the donkey party?

Fight!

Fight!

There’s a fight over here!

There goes Gibbs!

And there goes one knuckle-dragging liberal blogger after another!

This is an honest to God real hoot! Some yahoos propped behind their computers attacking, not right-wingers, but their own leader and the guy who speaks for their own leader!

And my goodness. Shouldn’t Gibbs just be ignoring this sorry lot of nobodies?

What harmony!

What unity!

The warm and fuzzy party, giving each other bolo punches and brass knuckles!

Here’s what I’m talking about. For conservatives, this will mean a million laughs.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News (what candor, huh?) has compiled a list of numerous liberal bloggers and their angst over Robert Gibbs suggesting they’re high on dope. Here is just one example:

“Joe and I are upset with Obama, and we, for example, raised nearly $43,000 for the man, According to the White House, our money now doesn’t count. Great, would they like to give it back? I for one, would love the $1000 back that I personally donated to the Obama campaign. Joe gave even more. I suspect a lot of our readers wouldn’t mind their contributions back too, since apparently they’re not appreciated.

Then there’s all that work we did for the campaign, all the dirty work they asked us to do – and we did it, gladly, and quietly – none of that counted either, apparently.”
John Aravosis, AmericaBlog

OMG!

That is…..

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SUH-WEEEEEEEEEEEEETTT!

Liberal Democrats, especially the dimwit liberal bloggers, have taken their eyes OFF the prize.

Maybe they think the prize is a lost cause this year.

Conservatives, you want some laughs? Click HERE. 

Libs? Only do it if you’re really brave and tough, and you know you’re not.

Just go write a nasty gram to Robert Gibbs at…..

Is the White House frustrated? Yeh, they’re frustrated.

I’ll Call Ya Harry and Raise Ya Three!

by @ 7:31. Filed under Politics - National.

Anyone doubting that the Democrats are feeling a lot of pressure, isn’t paying much attention.  The gaffes are coming so fast and furious that even Joe Biden has to be wincing once in a while!  The “latest” (and I use that term VERY loosely at the rate they are coming)gaffe is from Harry Reid.

Apparently, Harry and President Obama have now completely separated their strategies.  While President Obama has been running as the racial healer (cough, cough) Harry is now running as the ratial slash and burn candidate:

Yup, Harry is now determing how you will vote based upon your ethinc heritage!

Well Harry, if we’re going to start throwing down the racist gauntlet, let’s throw it down!

If Charlie Rangel were a white Republican, no one would bother to investigate him!

Ditto for Maxine Waters!

Finally, I want an investigation of the 2008 election. There is no possible way that Barack Obama received the number of votes that were tabulated for him because we all know that it is categorically impossible for any sane, white individual to vote for a black President.

Cmon Harry, your turn to say more stupid stuff!

August 9, 2010

Beware! Gonorrhea Lectim possible outbreak!

by @ 7:37. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I don’t typically post things circulating the internet but this was too good to let pass:

Information about Gonorrhea Lectim: The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It is pronounced “Gonna re-elect ’em,” and it is a terrible obamanation. The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum. Many victims contracted it in 2008…but now most people, after having been infected for the past two years, are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is. Gonorrhea Lectim is easily cured with a new drug just coming on the market called Votemout (vote-’em-out). You take the first dose in 2010 and the second dose in 2012, and simply don’t engage in such behavior again; otherwise, it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life, as we know it. Several states are already on top of this, like Virginia and New Jersey, and apparently now Massachusetts; with many more seeing the need.

August 8, 2010

A mosque at Ground Zero: “Sick, twisted, rancid, pathetic, profane and offensive”

by @ 20:08. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I vehemently oppose a mosque and Muslim community center being constructed in the shadows of Ground Zero.

I find this to be incredibly, and I would argue, intentionally, insensitive.

Some readers at my blog on FranklinNOW.com aren’t happy about my outrage. Their PC-ness and inability to reason has them painting me as hating all Muslims. I don’t hate anybody. I do have a major, serious, huge problem with the many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many Muslims that want to kill Americans. And I don’t apologize for that, to anyone.

Let’s be even more direct and in your face by calling in one of my favorite columnists, Doug Giles (I’ve just got to get him on my show when I fill in at WISN). From his just released column…take it away, Doug:

“Building a mosque at Ground Zero is like OJ’s mom putting a glamour shot of Orenthal over Nicole Brown’s gravestone. In other words, it’s very wrong and extremely disgusting, as every person with a lick of decency would agree.

What’s next, Awad? Are you going to demand a Nidal Malik Hasan Avenue on Ft.Hood’s military base? What about an Abdulmutallab Upgrade Package on Northwest Airlines?

To me, the question is not if a mosque could be built right next to the place where Muslims slaughtered 3,000 innocent people, but should it be built. The “no duh” answer to that insane inquiry is: Hell no, it should not be erected because that is simply gross.

The irony in this Islamic insult is the nine years of living hell the daft and duplicitous NYC bureaucrats have been giving St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in getting their church rebuilt after the TwinTowers flattened it on 9/11. But those same NYC bureaucrats are giddy as schoolgirls in erecting a mega-mosque to Mohammed on that macabre scene.

This is sick, twisted, rancid, pathetic, profane and offensive in the extreme. But this is what they historically do. Muslims see our 3,000 murdered citizens as a conquest to be celebrated, so they’re going to memorialize their bloody victory by establishing a mosque in honor of that sad morning.”

That’s most of Giles’ outstanding column. Read the entire masterpiece here.

America’s Economy Continues to be Held Hostage

by @ 16:58. Filed under Economy, Economy Held Hostage, Politics - National.

From the Financial Times:

Fed set to downgrade outlook for US

This sounds awful pessimistic for it to be included in Recovery Summer!

Faced with weak economic data and rising fears of a double-dip recession, the Federal Open Market Committee is likely to ensure its policy is not constraining growth and to use its statement to signal greater concern about the economy. It is, however, unlikely to agree big new steps to boost growth.

Do you think there is any coincidence between the Fed’s view of a deteriorating view and Christina Romer’s exit this week?  Maybe Romer finally got tired of carrying the fouled bucket of water that is Obama’s economic policy.

It’s a Small World After All!

by @ 16:31. Filed under International relations, Politics - National.

The Shoebox’s are huge Disney fans.  Old or new, we love all Disney movies.  DisneyWorld?  We’ve been there at least once a year since the Things were about 5 and some years we clocked as many as 4 trips. 

We’ve been to DisneyWorld enough times that the heat and long lines, if there are any, don’t bother us.  We have our favorite attractions and know how to use Fastpass, extra magic hours and the other Disney mechanisms to manage lines, to our fullest advantage.  One attraction that hardly ever has a line is It’s a Small World.

For those of you who have been on this ride, bear with me while I bring the others up to speed.  It’s a Small World is a boat ride through various scenes of puppets dressed as children from countries around the world.  The attraction, originally built for the 1964 World’s Fair, may have been entertaining at the time but today, is nothing short of boring.  Along with the dated animation of the kitchy puppets, is the song that plays over and over and over again, just with different languages.  By the end of the ride, most people are considering diving out of the boat and swimming to the end of the ride.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 particularly despise It’s a Small World.  For this reason, Mrs. Shoe and I make sure that we ride it on each trip.  we usually set it up so that we “have” to do It’s a Small World before the Things get to do something they are really yearning to do.

But, I digress. This post has nothing to do with Disney.

In the same week that President Obama’s favorability rating as an average across all major polls, drops below 50% in the US, it is announced that Arabs have an even lower opinion of the President than his US constituents.

According to a recently released Brookings public opinion poll, 63% of Arabs labeled their attitude as “discouraged” by the Obama administration. In contrast, only 16% were “hopeful”. While those numbers alone are remarkeable given that the meme of the Obama phenomena was that the world would love the US if only Obama were kingPresident, what’s more amazing is how quickly the perception of Obama has changed. Just last year, the poll was nearly the exact opposite with 51% of Arabs saying they were optomistic and only 15% discouraged.

It’s hard to believe that only two short years ago the Left was decrying President Bush over his poor popularity amongst Arabs. At the time, only 15% of Arabs had a favorable view of the United States. Today, only 12% of Arabs have a favorable view of the United States and there isn’t a peep of concern about Barack Obama is impacting the position of the US in the world.

Most people would agree that the issues of the Middle East are very distant from those challenging the US. That said, when it comes to optimism in the Obama administration, it is a Small World After All!

August 7, 2010

We know that wherever Steve is on vacation, life is a ______________________.

by @ 20:58. Filed under Miscellaneous.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbesOmg6D-g[/youtube]

All Liza, all the time.

Today is Purple Heart Day

by @ 15:15. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Every August 7 is Purple Heart Day in Wisconsin.

So many brave men and women have been awarded the Purple Heart. Meet one of them, John Kriesel.
 

 

Sgt. John Kriesel wears prosthetic legs while resting at his home in Cottage Grove, Minn., Monday, April 7, 2008. Kriesel lost both of his legs in a roadside bomb attack while patrolling near Fallujah, Iraq in December 2006. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sgt. John Kriesel comforts his son, Broden, 5, outside a mall in Roseville, Minn., Monday, April 7, 2008. Kriesel lost both of his legs in a roadside bomb attack while patrolling near Fallujah, Iraq in December 2006. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Sgt. John Kriesel and his son, Broden, 5, leave a mall after buying a birthday present for John’s wife, Katie, in Roseville, Minn., Monday, April 7, 2008. Kriesel lost both of his legs in a roadside bomb attack while patrolling near Fallujah, Iraq in December 2006. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

President Bush awarded Kriesel his Purple Heart just before Christmas in 2006.

281_bush_purple_heart

In this White House handout, U.S. President George W. Bush (2nd L) presents a Purple Heart to National Guard Sgt. John Kriesel (L), of Twin Cities, Minnesota, during a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center as first lady Laura Bush (3rd L) and Kriesel’s wife, Katie, his four-year-old son Broden, and five-year-old Elijah watch December 22, 2006, in Washigton, DC. (Photo by Eric Draper/White House via Getty Images)

Read more about Kriesel here.

Here’s an interview Kriesel did with CBS reporter Cynthia Bowers at Volk Field in Wisconsin on the day that Bravo Company landed from Iraq, along with a photo of Kriesel being interviewed.

God bless our fine fighting men and women!

Photo: ericiniraq.scrappydog.com

August 5, 2010

Biden the Oracle of the Economy

by @ 10:06. Filed under Economy, Economy Held Hostage, Politics - National.

I have to admit that I thought we were all being set up when at the end of April, Vice President Biden said:

Well, I’m here to tell you, some time in the next couple of months, we’re going to be creating between 250,000 jobs a month and 500,000 jobs a month.

I thought for sure that Biden was just giving us another chorus of happy talk from the administration. I didn’t see anyway, at least by looking out my economic window, that the economy was about to do anything regarding jobs, that would be at a level of nearly 500,000!

I was wrong! Vice President Biden was right!

Today, in another unexpected surprise, the Labor Department announced that new claims for unemployment insurance rose to 479,000! Admittedly, that’s not 500,000. However, I have to give VP Biden kudos for having the foresight to predict a number that appeared incredibly outlandish to us rubes on the sidelines. 500,000 would have been great but 479,000 is nothing to sneeze at! Great job Vice President Biden! It surely is “Recovery Summer!”

Uh, what?…He predicted 500,000 new jobs but we have nearly 500,000 new people collecting unemployment? Um….that’s not good!

Never mind!

Profound Animosity

by @ 7:36. Filed under Defending the American Dream, Politics - National.

It’s now been almost four full years that Barack Obama has been running for office against George Bush.  Yes, some of us (almost all on the right) know that George Bush hasn’t been on the political scene, let alone been President, for 18 months.  None the less, President Obama (isn’t that odd how he carries the title “President” but still doesn’t know that George Bush isn’t?) continues to campaign against George Bush.

During his campaign stop on Wednesday with the AFL-CIO Executive Council, he pledged his commitment to rebuild the economy (I wonder if VP Biden knows this as he’s already told us we’ll have 500,000 new jobs each month and that this is “Recovery Summer”), that he was not  “giving up or giving in” and he was going to change the direction from:

at least eight years in which there was a profound animosity towards the notion of unions.

Well, if “profound animosity towards the notion of unions” is what kept our unemployment rate under 5%, a GDP that was the envy of the world, the ability if not to shrink the deficit, at least keep up with the ridiculous Washington spending, then I’d have to say, “bring it on!”

Instead of “profound animosity towards the notion of unions,” President Obama has shown himself to have profound animosity towards all forms of employment or enterprise that do not include unions.  When it came to the union shops i.e. GM, Chrysler et al, President obama rushed into the burning buildings to save his constituents.  In every other effort regarding the economy, you can determine President Obama’s position in advance by determining what would be the best solution in a free market, and take the opposite!

Even if it was proved true that George Bush had “profound animosity towards the notion of unions,” I would take that back in a hearbeat over the profound animosity that President Obama has shown towards the 87.7% of us workers who can manage employment without paying a monthly allotment towards protection money.

August 4, 2010

The voters be damned

by @ 18:51. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Once again, an activist judge strikes.

This time, it was a George H.W. Bush appointee.

But nowhere in the story does it mention that the judge is gay.

August 3, 2010

The quality of this place to improve the next 8 days

by @ 22:47. Filed under The Blog.

This is the Emergency Blogging System. It has been activated because the AoSHQ-certified Moron™ who runs this place is off to fight the mosquitoes, walleye and smallmouth of the Boundary Waters. That means you’ll have Shoebox and the guest-bloggers classing this place up until either late on August 11 or sometime August 12.

Your offiical instructions are to have fun and don’t break this place. This concludes this activation of the Emergency Blogging System.

Stop the Mosque!

by @ 19:48. Filed under Miscellaneous.


Sign the petition!

From a plain old American citizen:

“Calls for an investigation into the questionable funding of the mosque have been made, but New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said such a probe would be an ‘insensitive’ and ‘un-American’ display of intolerance to a religious group.

How dare we be insensitive to a faction of Islam that has issued a global jihad (a call for deadly war against all non-Muslims), seeks to impose its will on all of us, and has taken down American buildings and human lives to underscore its point?”

Read the entire column.

August 2, 2010

Kids Say The Darndest Things

by @ 21:09. Filed under Defending the American Dream, Politics - National.

There are some advantages to growing older.  The most obvious is that when you consider the alternative, getting another year older, at any age, isn’t so bad.  Another is that you get to look back and remember fondly, some of your youthful experiences.

One experience that I remember is watching Art Linkletter do his “Kids say the darndest things” bit.  If you aren’t old enough, and haven’t seen one of the clips, Art Linkletter would get any number of kids together, all of whom were typically under the age of 10, and ask them questions.  Time and again, the answers the kids gave would leave the watchers in stitches.  The kid’s answers were innocent and top of mind.  While factual, they usually had a naive or certainly unnuanced view of the world.  Look at the following clip to get a sense of the fun that Linkletter had…all without paid actors:

The reason I bring Linkletter up is that I saw another video today in which a person was asked a question and the response left me in stitches. Like Linkletter’s kids, this respondent answered innocently with what was top of mind. In other words, the person answered honestly and without the bother of real world nuance. Here, watch the video and see if you don’t agree:

I’m glad we have free political speech in this country…at least for now. With free speech we get to see Pete Stark and people like him, lay out in simple, plain English, their contempt for the Constitution and for those who believe it actually has a purpose. He also lays out in plain English, why he and his ilk should be removed from office and offered a relocation package to the People’s Paradise of Cuba.

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