Comedy Gold from Massachusetts

Power-hungry Bay State Democrats — eyeing another potential Senate opening if U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry joins the Obama Cabinet— are quietly discussing reinstating a 2004 law that would let Gov. Deval Patrick appoint a permanent replacement to help keep the seat under party control until at least 2014.

“I think that would be preferable. It would certainly save the taxpayers money if they don’t have to pay for another election,” said Phil Johnston, former chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
 

Trust me...they'll do exactly as Phil Johnson is suggesting.  The last time they actually followed the law stated above, they lost a seat to Republican Scott Brown.  The Massachusetts Democrats won't take that risk again...not with the Senate seat John Kerry occupies.

Of course, it would be a brand new bar lowering experience to actually provide John Kerry with a cabinet position in the first place. 

The fact that there is a Massachusetts democrat trying to rationalize the law change because "it would certainly save the taxpayers money if they don't have to pay for another election" is comedy gold.

Gold, Jerry...GOLD!

Climate Change Opportunists

STOCKHOLM - During a year with a monster storm and scorching heat waves, Americans have experienced the kind of freakish weather that many scientists say will occur more often on a warming planet.

And as a re-elected president talks about global warming again, climate activists are cautiously optimistic that the U.S. will be more than a disinterested bystander when the U.N. climate talks resume Monday with a two-week conference in Qatar.
 

In other words...they want to use a weather event to promote their agenda.  After all, Hurricane Sandy was "unprecedented," wasn't it.

No it wasn't.

The same type storm hit New York City with a matching storm surge in 1821.  The only difference was that in 1821 there wasn't a full moon adding about 1 foot to the total surge.

If weather events are important enough to tie to this Anthropomorphic Global Warming stunt, perhaps we can include the 2,000+ low US temperature figures recorded in October of 2012 as well.  That should cancel everything out...yes?

Who's the Racist

WASHINGTON - The 93 percent support black voters gave President Barack Obama on Election Day has encouraged black leaders to try to leverage more attention from Obama and Congress.

Black leaders are delivering postelection wish lists to the president even though they waver on how much to demand from Obama in light of defeated GOP challenger Mitt Romney's assertions that Obama got minorities' votes by granting "gifts."
 

Well...let's see.  First we have the Associated Press singling out voting blocks based specifically on skin content.  Then we have them singling out "leaders" by the very same criterion.

Finally, we have these "Black leaders" structuring their demands  (wish lists) to the president based, again, specifically on the amount of melanin in their skin tone.

Tell me again...who's the racist?

What a Wonderful Life...

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

A man was pushing to get to the front of the line and started arguing with other people, trying to cut in front of them, said San Antonio Police Sgt. Rob Carey. Then he started calling people names, the sergeant said, and punched another customer in the face.

 I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

Roger Rivera, who was shopping in the Sears, said the man who was punched then pulled a gun and pointed it at the rabble-rouser, although Carey said the man actually pointed the gun at the ground. Everyone scattered, “tumbling over things, dropping boxes,” Rivera said. The man who was trying to cut in line ran and hid behind a refrigerator before he fled the store.

 The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
They're really sayin......i love you.

Black Friday checkout lines may be a lot longer at Walmart than in recent years. Employees angry about working conditions and low wages have been threatening a nationwide walkout on the biggest shopping day of the year for several months. The early start to special holiday deals and doorbusters on Thanksgiving evening have reportedly added fuel to the fire for already disgruntled Walmart employees.
 

 I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
They'll learn much more.....than I'll never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

What’s on Tap for Black Friday: Strikes, Protests, Anger – Oh, and Some Deals Too!

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are there on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
They're really sayin...*spoken*(I ....love....you).

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
*spoken*(you know their gonna learn
A whole lot more than I'll never know)
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself .......what a wonderful world.

Shades of Things to Come (Obamacare)

Older teens and adults with attention deficit disorder are much less likely to commit a crime while on ADHD medication, a provocative study from Sweden found.

It also showed in dramatic fashion how much more prone people with ADHD are to break the law — four to seven times more likely than others.

The findings suggest that Ritalin, Adderall and other drugs that curb hyperactivity and boost attention remain important beyond the school-age years and that wider use of these medications in older patients might help curb crime.

"There definitely is a perception that it's a disease of childhood and you outgrow your need for medicines," said Dr. William Cooper, a pediatrics and preventive medicine professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. "We're beginning to understand that ADHD is a condition for many people that really lasts throughout their life."
 

Except, a lot of people believe that ADHD doesn't even exist.  In fact, no one has been able to prove that it does, beyond a diagnosis without objective medical findings.  So, one could also state that ADHD is a result of poor parenting, or poor diet (which is associative to the former). 

In fact, one could say that ADHD is just a sham.  But, that's not why I posted this article.  Here's the reason:

 Using Swedish national registers, researchers studied about 16,000 men and 10,000 women ages 15 and older who had been diagnosed with ADHD. The country has national health care, so information was available on all drugs prescribed.
 

That's right, folks.  In countries with national health care, any university/researcher can reach right in and grab your medical records that reflect just what medication you happen to prefer.  Enjoy your privacy for the present, because it is FREAKIN gone in the future.  All hail Obamacare.

Polish National Hero Drives a SEPTA Bus

 

If you're riding through Roxborough and Manayunk today on SEPTA's Route 35 bus, you might want to tip your hat to the driver. He's a national hero of Poland.

Official recognition came earlier this fall to Andrzej Sekowski, and 25 years after the fact. His signature act of protest involved a can of black paint, a red ribbon, some grease, and a pig.

It was actually the second pig that earned Sekowski a year in prison for activities found subversive to the communist state. The first one went off as planned.

As regional elections approached in the fall of 1985, he and a friend in the Solidarity movement bought a pig from a farmer, tied a red ribbon - symbolizing communism - to its tail, and painted on its flanks the words in Polish for "I'm voting." Before sending it squealing through Gdansk's old city, his friend greased the pig.

"People laughed," Sekowski says. The pig protesters, whoever they were, became folk heroes. Then Sekowski got cocky. Before setting out to repeat the act in nearby Gdynia, he notified the newspapers. The secret police stopped the Fiat sedan on the way to the city, with the pig, in the trunk, ready to go.

"I never knew who told on us," he says.
 

It seems unreal that someone could be thrown in jail for a harmless little prank that showed Communism in a negative light, and proved that people of Poland still possessed defiance.

If you don't see the similarities between this man and  Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the anti-Muslim film producer who was arrrested without bail and eventually given a prison sentence, you're wrong.  The excuse is that he violated parole.  The truth is that he was a bargaining pawn by the White House. 

If you don't see the similarities here, perhaps you take your country for granted.

War on Women (1922)

I think it is important to point out that the very first woman appointed to the US Senate was a Democrat by the name of Rebecca Latimer Felton.  On this date (November 21) in 1922, Senator Felton was appointed by the Georgia Governor as Georgia's Senator due to the recently deceased Thomas Watson.

So, add this to the arsenal of the Democrat Party when they inform you that the Republicans have a "War on Women" on their agenda.  The Republicans could have been the first political party to welcome a female into the hallowed halls of the Senate.  Alas, it was not to be.

The Democrats brought us Senator Rebecca Latimer Felton.  Hooray!!!!

TOO BAD SHE SUPPORTED LYNCHING OF BLACK MEN.  IT'S A SHAME THAT SHE REFERRED TO YOUNG BLACK MEN AS "HALF-CIVILIZED GORILLAS." 

But, she was a woman, and a Democrat.

Hyperbole v. Factual Data (Climate Change)

Supposition from the already disgraced United Nations on Climate Change via the mouth piece, Associated Press:

STOCKHOLM - A U.N. report on rising greenhouse gas emissions reminded world governments Wednesday that their efforts to fight climate change are far from enough to meet their stated goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit).

The report by the U.N. Environment Program, released just days ahead of a major climate conference, said the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is up about 20 percent since 2000.

Scientists say those emissions are contributing to climate change and that failure to contain them could have dangerous consequences, including rising sea levels inundating coastal cities, dramatic shifts in rainfall disrupting agriculture and drinking water, the spread of diseases and the extinction of species.
 

Here's the truth from factual data:

 FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, warming to 1941, cooling to 1964, warming to 1998 and cooling through 2011. The warming rate from 1964 to 1998 was the same as the previous warming from 1911 to 1941. Satellites, weather balloons and ground stations all show cooling since 2001. The mild warming of 0.6 to 0.8 C over the 20th century is well within the natural variations recorded in the last millennium. The ground station network suffers from an uneven distribution across the globe; the stations are preferentially located in growing urban and industrial areas (“heat islands”), which show substantially higher readings than adjacent rural areas (“land use effects”). Two science teams have shown that correcting the surface temperature record for the effects of urban development would reduce the warming trend over land from 1980 by half.
 

Plan accordingly.  Because no matter how hard you look, it is impossible to see a relationship between manmade carbon releases and global temperature.

Ticket Fixing is an Art

An investigative report on Philadelphia Traffic Court portrays it as a place where ticket-fixing is rampant, with "two tracks of justice - one for the connected and another for the unwitting general public."

The report, commissioned by Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, says Traffic Court staff identified the offices of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chairman of the Democratic Party in Philadelphia, as a frequent "requestor" of such "special consideration" - an allegation that Brady denied.
 

I'm sure the new Democrat Attorney General of Pennsylvania (Kathleen Kane) will get right on that.   She's very experienced in dealing with such issues.

Pennsylvania Attorney General candidate Kathleen Kane had 15 parking tickets all dismissed by the same Judge, Scranton Magistrate Alyce Hailstone. The tickets were written between 1998 and 2001 and the dismissals happened between 2002 and 2009. In one case a ticket was written 3/12/99 but wasn't dismissed until 7/9/09, over 10 years.
 

I'm sure she has tips for everyone.

Enjoyed this Taki Take Immensely

*SNORT*  Kathy Shaidle takes down Gwen Stefani in a Taki piece.  But, I had to post this paragraph (because I like to offend...and she does it better than I can).  You'll notice I left in her links so I don't have any mouthbreathers crying about posting policy nonsense.  And for you perpetual whiners out there who can't seem to understand that factual criticism might hurt a little, go over to Iran and ask them to go easy on women and homosexuals.  Wear a helmet.

Every word of it is true...read and enjoy.

Sorry, too, “Palestinians.” Now entering their—what?—fourth generation as “refugees” (a world-historical record!), “Palestinians” have one other accomplishment to their (made-up) name: They discovered the secret to immortality, albeit through faking their own deaths on video and faking their own lives on paper. And somehow I missed that Hitler Channel special, “Inside the Mansions, Sports Cars, and Shopping Malls of Bergen-Belsen.”

Kathy's blog is linked on the side.  For convenience:  Five Feet of Fury

It's OK to Break the Law to Accomodate Shortcomings and Incompetence

The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools on Monday blasted the Philadelphia School Reform Commission's decision to suspend part of state law so it could control charter-school growth, and said the move could trigger legal challenges.

The coalition said in a statement that it was "blindsided, shocked, and dismayed" by the SRC's vote Thursday night to suspend a section of the school code that prevents districts from capping charter enrollment.

In an interview Monday, Bob Fayfich, the coalition's executive director, said the item was added to the agenda at the last minute and voted on without public comment.
 

So, in summary, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission decided to break the law to keep the enrollment of Pennsylvania Charter Schools from increasing, and their own Public School's enrollment from decreasing.  This is taking place little over a week after the same commission took out a $300 Million loan just to make payroll on the Public side.

In other words, the students (and their families) rather attend the more successful (and probably safer) Charter schools.  However, for each student who goes to the Charter school, the Public system loses just over $7,600 of taxpayer funds.  The Public schools of Philadelphia suck, and this commission is breaking the law to keep them afloat. 

This is the same mentality and political figureheads who will be running our health care system soon.  Happy days!!!

Happy Birthday Mr. Vice President

 

Try not to eat the candles...

It's Like Randy Newman Doing the Soundtrack for Dr. Zhivago

I caught the trailer for "Gangster Squad" the other day and I had to shake my head to get the marbles moving again.  I think a lost a few IQ points taking in all the snappy one liners.  But, that's not what bothered me the most (and that's saying something).

Keep in mind, this is a 1950's era film about the rise of Mickey Cohen.  I'll say that again.  It takes place throughout the 1950's.  So to set the tone and hook you in, the trailer music is a rap by Jay-Z.  While that noisy garbage is playing, the trailer institutes Wachowski/The Matrix like slow motion multi-view renditions of violence.

As far as I'm aware, rap wasn't even invented until the late seventies.  Mickey Cohen was dead by then.

Here...see for yourself.  If this is a reflection of our popular culture, I much rather be considered eccentric.

What Do You Mean that the Federal Govt. Doesn't Want to Help Alabama?

CORDOVA, Ala. (AP) — Main Street in this old mill town looks about the same as it did the day after tornadoes killed about 250 people across Alabama a year and a half ago: Battered red bricks and broken glass litter the pavement, and the buildings still standing are rickety and roofless.

The entire one-block downtown, still deemed unsafe, remains sealed off by a chain-link fence. City officials blame the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying the money to demolish skeletons of the old buildings is mired in miles of red tape.

When one request for photos or historical documentation is met, FEMA makes another, the mayor and others in this town of 2,100 say. One crop of workers is replaced by another, forcing locals to constantly explain their problems to new people.
 

Guys...I know this happened in 2011 and more people were killed than during Hurricane Sandy, but your state is not Obama Territory.  You didn't vote for him in 2008.  You didn't vote for him in 2012.  You're not likely to vote for the Democrat candidate in 2016.  There are no opportunities to use photo opportunities in Alabama, because it will do no good.   And, to add insult to injury, Cordova, Alabama is a coal region.  Help ain't coming...ever.

The Freedom to Offend

At freshman orientation this fall, Ursinus College told incoming students there was a "no-tolerance policy on no tolerance."

That policy is being tested now as the small suburban liberal-arts college holds disciplinary hearings for a student who wore blackface to a campus-sponsored Halloween party and another who created a website asking students to rank one another as "hot or crazy."

Both incidents were quickly condemned by administrators and student leaders, who held town-hall meetings to air their grievances.

In a statement Monday, college president Bobby Fong said the campus response to the incidents was "indicative of the health of a community unafraid to speak truth and caring enough to help those who act inappropriately learn from error."

Fong, son of Chinese immigrants, has emphasized open discussions about racial issues since he came to Ursinus in July 2011.

In the Halloween case, a group of male students dressed as the U.S. women's gymnastic team, and one painted his face black to portray Gabby Douglas. Several students approached him and told him it was offensive.

Fong said the student appeared to have acted out of ignorance rather than callousness. He has been meeting with the offended parties and has apologized, Fong said.

Epiphany Summers, president of the college's black student union, was skeptical.
 

Yeah...a couple of things.  First off, if you have a significant amount of melanin in your skin tone and your name is Epiphany, you have no cause to be looking around for stereotypes to complain about.  You are one.   Not that there's anything wrong with being a stereotype since most of them are based on at least one salient fact.

Secondly,  I get that the Student ID's were misused.   But, if they were available for public access and the school holds no licensing options on them...Guess what?   And, technically, even if there is licensing, the website used to rate students (in whatever capacity) is an application of the Fair Use Doctrine.

Third...and most important...the First Amendment gives us the absolute RIGHT to offend anyone we want...end of story.  This is even more important when the offense is through perception and not in a purposeful way. 

You'd think someone who was raised by Chinese immigrants and, presumably, escaped the rule of Communist China would tolerate and even appreciate these nuances in a free society.  Guess not.

One other thing.  Again, I am reminded of the SK Energy commercial on the radio these days starring 50 Cent (Curtis James Jackson III).  Apparently, to be accepted in "cool" society you have to drink this hopped up energy formula and you turn from a nerdy white guy to a smooth grammatically challenged winner who gets to take shorties to the candy store...or some such nonsense.

Life used to be easier, because it was harder.  You were forced to compete and build up thicker skin.  There weren't "time-outs" if you misbehaved.  There was honest discipline.  There weren't certificates of participation.  There were trophies for the winner.  There weren't whiny little creatures looking for every opportunity to be offended.

Bush's Fault (For every occasion)

Oh, hey look, a government agency that was supposed to build up business in Northern Vermon that can't account for their lost funds.

Three years after an economic-development agency serving northern Vermont counties collapsed, the financial missteps that led to its failure remain shrouded in confusion and largely uninvestigated.

Former employees and members of its large board say the Economic Development Council based in St. Albans operated with scant oversight from its board and from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration — the agency which provided the council with its grant money.
 

It's closed down now, and no one knows where the missing hundreds of thousands went, but the inept long-term director has someone to blame.

 She attributed the financial problems in 2008 and 2009 to the hostility of President George W. Bush to development councils. “When Bush came in,” she said, “many of us went of of business. It was a struggle. I sleep well at night,” she said.
 

Oh...alright then.  George Bush's fault.  Why didn't you just put that in the headline, and no one would have to read any further.  They could have left out the parts about personal purchases on council credit cards, lack of documentation on expense allocation, lack of updating on financial reports, company vehicles without documentation logs, and the shifty undocumented loans to accomodate short falls. 

They could have avoided all the embarrassment and scrutiny if they had just come right out front and yelled it over hill and dale.  "IT WAS GEORGE W. BUSH'S FAULT THAT MADE US ACT LIKE INCOMPETENT IDIOTS!!!!"

Let's Play "Search for the Political Party"

A Philadelphia nonprofit with ties to State Rep. Dwight Evans mismanaged $1.5 million in state grants since 2006, raising questions about how the money was obtained and spent, according to a confidential state audit.

At Evans' direction, the Urban Affairs Coalition put a Philadelphia pastor and his aide on its payroll, the auditors found, then used taxpayer funds to pay them $365,000 for work that auditors said they could not verify.

The grants included $1 million that went to renovate a nursing home run by Leland Beloff, a former Philadelphia city councilman who was convicted in an extortion scheme in 1987 with mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo.

The home, Harlee Manor, should have been ineligible because it is a for-profit venture, auditors found. They also cited e-mails showing a top aide to U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, who was a Beloff friend, sought status reports on the grants.

 The report, obtained by The Inquirer, was commissioned by the state Office of Inspector General Kenya Mann Faulkner and completed in May by the KPMG accounting firm.
 

Damn...I don't see it anywhere.  Hold on, I'll keep looking.

 Evans, once Philadelphia's most powerful House Democrat, did not respond to requests left at his office and on his cellphone to discuss the audit or his role in the grants.
 

 Aha...there it is down in paragraph # 11.  This guy used to be in charge of the  House Appropriations Committee which oversaw budget requests and money grants.  He was the most influential Philadelphia politician in the State House, but the Philadelphia Inquirer doesn't think we need to know that in the by-line, or the first 11 paragraphs.  You know, someone might make the association between the Democrat party and graft should they do so.

Incidentally, Rep. Evans was noted as one of the top ten influential African-Americans in Philadelphia back in 2010.  Here's hoping he becomes one of the top 10 influential African-Americans at Graterford Prison real soon.