I pledge

No, not that tripe. Try this instead.

Blakk Rasta sings about the Chocolate Jesus

Complete with a preview of your lifestyle under Cap & Trade.

H/T - Don Surber. And more.

I can't get used to this lifestyle

He offered hope and change
now we got Marxist economics
you got it, you got it

Exponential

As seen at NEI Nuclear Notes.



Obviously missing from the presentation is the rate of increase of debt under a Democratic administration.

The day the nation died

Bye bye America ...

During the same week that the fiftieth anniversary of the day the music died was commemorated, we may have witnessed the day America died.

My blog has been quiet lately. Between the inevitability of the porkulus bill, uncertainty over what it will mean, and a case of blogger's block, I haven't had much to say. But Friday's passing of the Senate's splendidly selfish spending bill is something this nation cannot afford and the consequences terrify me. At a time when our nation is increasingly restrained in what it can produce, we have mortgaged our future on a package of short term fixes and throwaway spending. When it is all spent, we will look back at a lot of nothing. Nothing but a pile of political paybacks to promote the next election. This cannot go on.

How many times can you bankrupt a country? With the nation's means of production crippled or banned by Washington, and incentives to take risks reduced, there is little chance of a full economic recovery. I am frozen with fear and uncertainty with my personal investments. I see no way up and little hope of keeping ahead of the certain inflation this wasteful spending will produce.

What is left to spend? How can Obama, Reid and Pelosi create their environmentally benign socialist utopia when we are already over leveraged? The spendathon for socialized healthcare, and eventual taxing of our exhalations could be more than any civilization can support. Secession may become inevitable. But that's another blog post.

Black Friday.

Jukes

I acquired a USB turntable and am digging out my old LP's and ripping the music to MP3's. Southside Johnny is spinning right now.

A Jackie and Dunlap Christmas

It brings a tear to my eye.

It must be Monday

I do like I Don't Like Mondays

I got here in a roundabout way. Dad29 linked to this Hugh Laurie YouTube song, which led me to Laurie playing the opening of I Don't Like Mondays, and then to Bob Geldof's version. A New Wave classic.

Barack Obama - Economic Ignoramus

In contemplating Barack Obama's possible actions to address the economy there is one thing that he could immediately do to reassure and strengthen our financial markets. If he made a statement that the Obama Administration will make the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, it would provide significant economic stimulus. Tom Blumer wrote on the matter of Obama making the tax cuts permanent and abandoning his plans to destroy domestic oil production.

If Obama doesn’t currently signal and then carry through on forgetting about his punitive tax plans and/or foolishly locks up fuel resources, the fuel-price stimulus just noted will go away. Any other so-called stimulus coming out of Washington won’t be of much ongoing value to the long-term health of the overall economy. If fuel prices will head back up, or if Obama’s campaign tax promises are carried out, businessmen and entrepreneurs will continue to play it close to the vest by avoiding hiring and capital investment.

The new president and his party have worked tirelessly to talk down, and take down, the economy for years. They finally succeeded doing so sometime in June, creating the current POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) Economy — soon to be known, barring an unlikely fourth quarter turnaround, as the Pelosi-Obama-Reid Recession. Unlike them, I want the US to prosper no matter who’s in charge. Following the suggestions just outlined will bring prosperity back.

I believe, however, that Obama will continue with his plans to further manipulate the tax code to achieve his idea of redistributive tax nirvana. It is telling to watch Obama respond to Charlie Gibson after Gibson carefully explains how our economy previously responded to reduced capital gains tax rates by collecting a greater amount of total taxes.



Obama does not even acknowledge what Gibson explained for almost one minute. He instead goes directly to talking about fairness, punitive measures against hedge fund managers, and how he needs to raise capital gains tax rates to finance health care and other giveaways. Gibson and the compliant media never challenged Obama on this change of subject or pointed out his economic ignorance. It is crystal clear that Mr. Obama does not understand basic economic theory or the demonstrated effect of the Laffer Curve for over a quarter century.

This was not an isolated incident, as Obama reinforces the fact that he is economically ignorant in the famous dialog with Joe the Plumber.



"Spread the wealth around" is his response to Joe, showing that he believes that economics is a zero-sum game. He thinks he can simply take "wealth" (actually meaning income) from those earning more and give it to those earning little or nothing without affecting the economy or reducing the overall amount of taxes collected. For our next President, it is all about punishing those that do well and rewarding those who do not try.

The question that should have been asked by Charlie or by Joe was, "Mr. Obama, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that when taxes are raised on the affluent, not only do they end up with less money, but the government also receives less taxes to spread to the needy and the number of needy also increases. With these facts in mind, how is raising taxes on the affluent fair to anyone?"

This type of economic ignorance is not unusual for many who major in the arts or letters when in college. These individuals gravitate to these soft majors in part because they have little or no aptitude for math and science. Obama fits this profile, which could be one more reason he will not release his college transcripts. More evidence ...



This Obama gaffe was blamed on ad libbing or poor preparation. But I think his staff prepared him well with this talking point, but his brain could not process math and economics which led to his awful verbal stumble.

I worry that despite have a large group of informed economic advisers, many coming from Bill Clinton's pro-growth administration, Barack Obama will be unable to mentally process their arguments. He will govern based on his feelings, which may be appropriate for preschoolers, but is dangerous for an adult in the office of the President.

The Lapdog Media - Redefined

My goodness. Books, "living" ex-Presidents, a new puppy, and the school choice for his daughters. Thanks God President Bush never had to face hard-hitting questions from the press like that during his eight years in office.

The dog response is encouraging. If our President-elect ever finds time to give half as much thought to the financial crisis as that, a quick return to prosperity is guaranteed.

Talk about not ready for prime time. It is no wonder that Obama refused to hold press conferences for the last two years.

Music for the coming depression

Thanks O, for making this one "Great," too.

"Racist" has become hate speech

I read this story of a 12 year old girl being called racist by her classmates for wearing a Sarah Palin T-shirt and wondered: Has Racist become the new N-word?

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — She’s only 12 years old but Ashleigh Jones is feeling the heat of this election year.

That’s because the seventh grader at New Smyrna Beach Middle School was called a racist by classmates for wearing a pro-Sarah Palin t-shirt.

Jones is volunteering at the Republican Headquarters in New Smyrna Beach. The Palin t-shirt was a gift from her fellow volunteers. But when she wore it to school she learned just how tough politics can be.

“Some of the students were calling me racist because I was Caucasian,” she said. “I wanted the Caucasian man to win. And I told them that’s not true. It’s my freedom of speech, it’s my opinion.”

"Racist" is thrown around today like that other word was decades ago. It is meant to stop discussion in its tracks by placing the user in a position of power, either racial or moral; and to put the target of the word on the defensive. The shock effect of both words is used to deliberately cause offense.

I was surprised to find that the definition of Hate Speech at Wiki applies to the use of racist in this context.

Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, moral or political views, socioeconomic class, occupation or appearance (such as height, weight, and hair color), mental capacity and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.

It is no secret that the use of identical words will be considered acceptable from the lips of leftist and socialist Democrats, but is called racist when expressed by conservative or moderate Republicans.

Real racist words and actions have become so rare today that the word has lost any meaning. It was a mere 20 years ago that my boss in Alabama told me not to shop at a certain store because it was a "nigger shack." It was also there that my African-American co-worker was told to drive the opposite way when he stopped and asked for directions. That was and is racism. Wearing a Sarah Palin T-shirt is not racism.

Racist is now tossed around as a way of saying, "Shut up. I'm not listening. You are wrong." Today's whiners and race-baiters have never experienced racism and do not know what it is.

If the R-word gets thrown at you, do not passively take it. Call out this hate speech for what it is.

If a tree falls while on CNN, does it make a sound?

James T. Harris finally has had enough with CNN, which used to be a cable news network. On the radio today, he went through the preconditions that he set for this appearance on CNN. CNN violated their agreement, Harris left the set.

Here is the set up.

After being called a sell-out several times by Shelley Wynter, an African American Obama supporter claiming to be a conservative, Harris responded.

I am sick to death of the word sellout. And the guest just on used it about seven or eight times.

Listen, let me make this perfectly clear. I am not saying that Senator John McCain is a conservative. I am a conservative. Senator John McCain happens to be my candidate. And I have a better chance of pulling him over to my position, as a moderate Republican, than I do a liberal socialist. It's as simple as that. I would really appreciate it if people would just back up off of the name calling, because it gets nowhere in the dialogue.

(...)

I'm all for back and forth. I'm all for dialogue, but I'm not for name calling. You have never ...

Outside of calling someone (a liberal, a socialist) what they are, I don't call people who vote for Barack Obama names. That is their choice.

I am making my choice as a free American, and I'm sick to death of liberals coming on and bashing me because of my choice as a man.

I am a man who can make a choice and I am sick and tired of people bleeding all over me because of their insecurities. You're insecure man. Don't tell me what I am.

No. Whoa. Nothing. I'm done. I'm done.

Mr. Wynter tried to claim that he used "sell-out" in the context of Harris' conservative principals. That is pure crap.

He used "sell-out" as code words for Harris being a race traitor. Something "conservative" Wynter isn't because he is supporting Obama, the most liberal U.S. Senator ever. Beyond liberal or progressive, Obama has now revealed himself as a socialist.

I'll link the Podcast of the radio show when it is posted.

UPDATE:

The Podcast of Friday's show is here. James T. blogs about it here.

Here's what is takes to make a liberal talk show host leave while on a national cable program. Compare and contrast.

Another slice of pie

When I read the transcript of Obama's "pie" speech I thought that he had absolutely lost his mind. However, listening to the response of the crowd, he was obviously not talking about dessert. He was speaking in some sort of Obonics that this listener did not understand. Listen to it yourself.



In order to understand the meaning of "pie" I went to the Urban Dictionary. There are several definitions of "pie" there, I found the most fitting of them to be these.

A Kilo of coke. That probably does not still apply. Obama left behind his drug abuse and dealing in the 1980's. Or so the story goes.

Reference to female genitalia! Now this is a definite possibility. Obama was campaigning with the Democrat Governor of Ohio, and Democrats and extramarital sex go together like apple pie and ice cream.

What the Jefferson's got a piece of when they moved on up, to the East side, to the deluxe apartment in the sky. This was my first thought, Obama plans to redistribute wealth in his Socialist utopia. Dividing the pie, this is sometimes called, and it is consistent with his remarks to that plumber. That would also account for the positive response from Obama's supporters.

A random word to shout for no particular reason at all. This seems to best fit the situation, and probably best describes Obama's rhetorical brilliance (i.e., incredibly childish). "Barack, time out, go to your room."

For the last month, just about every other word that was spoken by McCain or Palin was turned by the left into some sort of racial "Code Word." Again we have an example of "He who smell't it, delt it," as we used to say. How many more hidden meanings are built into Obama's prepared remarks that whitey just doesn't get? Is there a list of Obonic Code Words that I can review to educate myself?

Anyone still want to believe Obama didn't mean to call Sarah Palin a pig with lipstick?


Video Hat Tip - Chris Barrett, Powerhouse Pictures

Pies for industry, pies for the dead

ABC's Political Radar mocks Obama, using his own words. Seriously. It was not Sarah Palin this time, it really was The One.

Unprecedented.

"I was in this small town in Ohio called Georgetown, OH – little town," he began, "And we went to a diner because I decided I wanted some pie (1)."

At this point a woman in the Philadelphia crowd, listening to the story, offered to make Obama a treat.

"You gonna make me some pie (2)?" he asked, "What kind of pie do you make (3)? Sweet potato pie (4)? Alright. Alright. We might have to have a sweet potato pie (5) contest. I'll be the judge. Cause I know my sweet potato pie (6). But they did not have sweet potato pie (7) at this particular establishment," he said speaking again of the diner in Ohio. "So instead I got coconut crème pie (8). I'll take a crème pie (9), I don't mind. I like all kind of pie (10). The Governor of Ohio, he had lemon meringue pie (11) . So we had ordered our pie (12), and the employees there decided they wanted to take a picture of me," he concluded, "But just as we were finishing up taking the picture, the owner comes out, with our pie (13)."

Thirteen pies in 84 seconds. Barack is ready to take on Kobayashi.

Two hours later, the World's most brilliant orator had another chance.

“We decided to stop at a diner because I was hungry and I decided I wanted some pie (1). Pie (2). That’s what I wanted.”

At which point, as usual, someone in the crowd listening offered some pie of their own.

“You make pie(3)?” Obama asked? “What kind of pie (4) you make? Sweet potato pie (5)? I like sweet potato pie (6). I’m thinking of having a sweet potato pie (7) here in Philadelphia? Because I’ve heard a lot of people are saying they can make sweet potato pie (8). I’ll put it up against my mother in laws sweet potato pie (9). Alright, you give up? Nah. You. So anyway they did not have sweet potato pie (10) in South OH. So I had coconut cream pie (11). The governor of OH he had lemon meringue pie (12). So we ordered our pie (13) and I decide that I’m going to take a picture with the wait staff.”

It was at this point that he had matched his record. Had he stopped here, it certainly would have been impressive…yet not historic. I would like to say the crowd stood silent waiting to see if he would break the record, thrilled to say they witnessed someone reach pie immortality. But the truth is, they might have been silent out of concern. How much pie can one person take? Nevertheless, the record was within reach. And Obama continued:

“Just as we were finished taking the picture and the owner comes out, with our pie (14). So I take my pie (15).”

You just cannot make this stuff up. That was 15 pies in 104 seconds for those of you counting.

What a dolt. And we're to believe that he wrote two autobiographical novels? Obama is incapable of writing a check.


HT - Don Surber

October 9 Political Rally - They're not angry, just fired up

As I've been teasing, Mrs. Headless earned a pair of tickets for yesterday's McCain-Palin rally in Waukesha. Unfortunately, I had a meeting that could not be missed so she took a neighbor with her instead.

Actually, it was probably a good thing that I was not there. I might have made that crazy sounding guy look rational, and possibly earned some face-time with the Secret Service.

And wouldn't you know it? Doesn't it always seem that when you go early to the theater or a game to get a good seat, someone always drags in late and sits in front of you? And invariably it is a guy of NBA height or a tall lady with big hair. Same thing for Mrs. Headless yesterday. These are a handful of her photos. She did a great job.

I don't think this is Tommy's best side.



I'm still looking for Tommy's good side.



The now famous James T. Harris was seated near my wife. For a proud minivan driver, the man has style. Obama can only dream of looking this good.



Governor Palin is in the building.



Hard to get a shot in without including that lady's hair.



Here's one without the hair. Senator McCain looks pretty spry for an old fart. I think I want him on my side if I'm going to an ass whoopin'.



Another shot of that lady's hair. I should quit complaining, my wife said that the lady was very nice and extremely gracious.



A good photo of Governor Palin responding to a question. You can barely see the hair.



I would have loved to have been there, but I was busy doing my part to make nuclear energy safe for America. All things considered, I cannot complain. I am extremely happy with the swag my wife brought home for me.

And I didn't have to sit behind the lady with the big hair or have Reuters post my picture worldwide.

O'Reilly does Barney Frank

I especially like the part where O'Reilly yells at Barney about solid, cocks and says "You are not man enough." Barney could barely choke out a reply and when he tried to play the Gay Card, O'Reilly jammed it right down his throat.

The Royal Bank of McCain

Scene: A bunch of business people are at lunch, and one of them starts choking on some food.

And all the rest of the businesspeople see him, and one says, "Is the economy tanking?" One other says, "I definitely say the economy is tanking." The first says, "I know exactly what to do."

Cut to Obama, “The times are too serious to put our campaign on hold or ignore the full range of issues the next president will face.”

And as the man is still choking, Obama says “You’re meeting at a time of great turmoil for the American economy. We are now confronted with a financial crisis as serious as any that we’ve faced since the Great Depression. Action must be taken to restore confidence in our economy. A failure to act would have grave consequences for jobs, for savings and for the American people."

And then John McCain, over at some other table sees the choking man and just walks right over and gives him the Heimlich maneuver and saves him. The first guy says, "Just like Obama told you."

ANNOUNCER: Less talk. Make it happen. The McCain-Palin Administration.

Johnny Mac: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

With malice aforethought: Lipstick on a pig

"But he didn't say Sarah Palin is a pig."

Sure. Just like this was an accident.



He builds up to these cheap shots. What a STATESMAN!

Lipstick on a pig. Is that like designer clothes on a cow?



He married the manliest woman he could find (Aunt Esther looks feminine by comparison). Little wonder Obama spends so much time at "the gym" ... he likes boys. This is quite understandable considering his whacked-out mother and the rejection he felt from his father and stepfather.

UPDATE:

I forgot this one.



What a jerk. M. Simon has his analysis here.