Given a chance to clarify those remarks, Sotomayor said "I did not mean to offend, but it is known that Hispanic females possess an intrinsic aptitude which explains why these women have excelled in the judiciary."Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, believes she used a poor choice of words when she indicated a Hispanic woman would make a better judge than a white man, the White House said Friday.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that he believes after having conversations with "people who have talked to her," that Sotomayor would do a better job of articulating her belief that "your experiences impact your understanding."
"I think she'd say that her word choice was poor," Gibbs said.
In her 2001 remarks, which have led many on the right to call her a racist, Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
The average state government worker makes $50,350. The average private sector worker makes $43,889. That is a 14% difference.Wow, 33% more than private jobs!And don’t get me started on fringe benefits.
The Las Vegas Sun had a story on Sunday comparing what state workers in Nevada compared to what state employees make in other states.
That’s not the question.
How much do they make compared to the people in Nevada who don’t work for the state. That is the pool of workers from which the state of Nevada hires.
State workers there make $54,831 a year.
Private sector workers make $42,825 a year.
State workers in Nevada make 28% more in pay alone. Plus better benefits — more state holidays, more sick leave, earlier retirement, defined benefits retirement — than the people in the private sector.
That makes no sense. These are mainly clerical jobs.
But in state after state, that is the case. Taxpayers make less than their employees.
In California, state workers make $66,928 a year.
Everyone else averages $50,182 a year.
That’s a 33% difference.
Is it any wonder that California state government is running up a $42 billion deficit?
| Disparity in state versus private employee pay | |||
| U.S. average | $6,461 | 14.7% | |
| 1 | New York | ($691) | -1.2% |
| 2 | Missouri | ($322) | -0.8% |
| 3 | Georgia | $700 | 1.7% |
| 4 | Texas | $1,443 | 3.3% |
| 5 | Virginia | $1,823 | 4.0% |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $1,867 | 3.4% |
| 7 | Delaware | $2,154 | 4.7% |
| 8 | Tennessee | $2,918 | 7.6% |
| 9 | Maryland | $3,352 | 7.0% |
| 10 | Wyoming | $3,639 | 9.4% |
| 11 | Connecticut | $4,108 | 7.2% |
| 12 | West Virginia | $4,270 | 12.7% |
| 13 | Florida | $4,457 | 11.3% |
| 14 | New Hampshire | $4,585 | 10.6% |
| 15 | South Carolina | $4,651 | 13.3% |
| 16 | North Carolina | $5,269 | 13.7% |
| 17 | Arkansas | $5,535 | 16.6% |
| 18 | Louisiana | $5,543 | 14.7% |
| 19 | Washington | $5,893 | 12.8% |
| 20 | Arizona | $5,919 | 14.4% |
| 21 | Nebraska | $6,083 | 17.2% |
| 22 | New Mexico | $6,135 | 17.1% |
| 23 | Hawaii | $6,357 | 15.7% |
| 24 | Kentucky | $6,472 | 18.0% |
| 25 | Pennsylvania | $6,511 | 15.4% |
| 26 | Mississippi | $6,853 | 21.5% |
| 27 | Oklahoma | $7,188 | 20.5% |
| 28 | Indiana | $7,266 | 19.7% |
| 29 | North Dakota | $7,387 | 22.6% |
| 30 | Kansas | $7,490 | 20.4% |
| 31 | Alabama | $7,822 | 21.3% |
| 32 | Oregon | $9,015 | 23.3% |
| 33 | Illinois | $9,522 | 20.3% |
| 34 | Alaska | $9,526 | 21.5% |
| 35 | Utah | $9,962 | 27.1% |
| 36 | New Jersey | $10,316 | 19.5% |
| 37 | South Dakota | $10,336 | 33.0% |
| 38 | Maine | $10,473 | 30.2% |
| 39 | Colorado | $10,812 | 24.1% |
| 40 | Nevada | $12,006 | 28.0% |
| 41 | Michigan | $12,276 | 28.7% |
| 42 | Montana | $12,589 | 39.2% |
| 43 | Minnesota | $13,153 | 30.3% |
| 44 | Ohio | $13,297 | 33.9% |
| 45 | Vermont | $13,321 | 37.0% |
| 46 | Idaho | $13,593 | 40.9% |
| 47 | Rhode Island | $15,469 | 37.7% |
| 48 | California | $16,746 | 33.4% |
| 49 | Wisconsin | $16,974 | 45.4% |
| 50 | Iowa | $23,027 | 65.8% |
The science run: Gas vs. charcoal
Worrying about climate change while cooking those brats on your charcoal grill?
Scientists say if you are, you might think of switching to a propane grill.
That's because propane is more environmentally friendly than carbon (sic - Ms. Rust meant charcoal).
Eric Johnson, lead author of Elsevier's Environmental Impact Assessment Review, reported that the carbon footprint for charcoal grilling is almost three times as large as that for liquid petroleum gas grilling.
The differences come in large part by how the grills work. Propane grills are like conventional ovens - they have power ratings and can easily be switched on and off. Charcoal grills, however, can't be switched on and off easily, and fuel consumption is difficult to regulate.
Mr. Johnson is absolutely ignorant about how my charcoal grills and smokers work. I maintain pinpoint control of temperature and I can quickly snuff out the coals by controlling air flow. It will burn minimally longer than my gasser after I finish cooking.
Like Dad29 exposed with bisphenol-A, the MJS is latching onto more junk science as they start their next witch hunt. Yesterday tobacco is banned, tomorrow it will be charcoal.
The photo characterizes their modified first response unit after budget cuts impacted station staffing and equipment.
I can see a similar proposal for the state budget cuts!
The office of North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue (D) announced today that Toshiba Nuclear will open a project management and engineering center in Charlotte; adding 194 jobs to Mecklenburg County. The jobs will pay average salaries of $122,037 a year.I would imagine that Wisconsin was near the top of their list, but just missed out. But I would be wrong.
The company is the primary contractor for the construction of two nuclear reactors planned in Texas. The company initially considered sites there and in Northern Virginia, where it is based, for the new operation before cutting the list to Charlotte and Atlanta.Strong support from state and local officials, I wonder what that means?
"Charlotte is becoming the place to be in the U.S. for nuclear engineers," Fuyuki Saito, chief executive of Toshiba America Nuclear Energy said in a statement. "The quality of the work force, quality of life and strong support we have received from state and local officials make Charlotte a perfect fit for out new center."
California's biggest energy utility announced a deal Monday to purchase 200 megawatts of electricity from a startup company that plans to beam the power down to Earth from outer space, beginning in 2016....
Solaren would generate the power using solar panels in Earth orbit and convert it to radio-frequency transmissions that would be beamed down to a receiving station in Fresno, PG&E said. From there, the energy would be converted into electricity and fed into PG&E's power grid.
...
Solaren's chief executive officer, Gary Spirnak, said the project would be the first real-world application of space solar power, a technology that has been talked about for decades but never turned into reality."While a system of this scale and exact configuration has not been built, the underlying technology is very mature and is based on communications satellite technology," he said in a Q&A posted by PG&E. A study drawn up for the Pentagon came to a similar conclusion in 2007. However, that study also said the cost of satellite-beamed power would likely be significantly higher than market rates, at least at first.
Talk about your unintended consequences. This technology is being developed to reduce the use of carbon based electricity, but it will directly cause global warming. How can concentrating and converting solar energy, then sending it to the planet not cause warming?
Granted, the warming will be on a very small scale, but it will be warming nonetheless. And probably warm the earth more than the CO2 from producing the same electricity using coal.
LDH: NormalABDOMEN/PELVIS FINDINGS:
AFP - TUMOR MARKER: Normal
HCG, SERUM: Normal
Shotty aortocaval and mesenteric lymph nodes are stable. There is a stable, 1.4 x 1.8 cm soft tissue density contiguous with the distal abdominal aorta on the left. There are no enlarged mesenteric or retroperitoneal lymph nodes.Layman's interpretation.
The chances of recurrence more than five years after the diagnoses of testicular cancer are dramatically reduced."I won" sounds significantly less trite in this context.
Kolan McConiughey, a Special Olympics bowler from Ann Arbor Michigan who has reportedly bowled three perfect 300 games, says he could take President Obama on the lanes. "He's cool, but he can't beat me."I suggest a debate on the economy or national security instead. No TelePrompters allowed. My money will be on Kolan.
Hand Tommy some paper towel, he needs to clean up.
Modern streetcars resemble light rail vehicles, but are smaller and less expensive. Otherwise, they spur the same kind of debate as light rail: Supporters say a fixed rail system stimulates economic development and provides a transportation option that is attractive to both visitors and residents, while opponents say it's too costly and isn't as flexible as a bus line.
As envisioned by Barrett, the streetcars would run in a three-mile loop that links downtown destinations to the Amtrak-Greyhound station. It would connect not only with existing trains and buses but also tie in with proposals for commuter rail and high-speed trains.
That loop could be viewed as a starter system that could be expanded later, said Barrett and Ald. Bob Bauman, another supporter.
"Once you have something in the ground, the debate will change from 'This is the end of Western civilization as we know it' to 'How do we get this line extended to Miller Park,' " the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and other destinations, Barrett said. That has been the pattern in other cities where light rail lines became popular despite the controversy that preceded them, he noted.
Unfortunately for Milwaukee citizens and visitors, the very thing that make the trolley the choice of Barrett and Baumann, were the things that doomed Milwaukee's early street car system. Steel rails will make the trolley a permanent fixture in Milwaukee, fulfilling their dreams of a metropolitan rail system. But those same rails will mean noise, uncomfortable rides, and delays for other vehicles on Milwaukee's street.
Claim as they will that their trolley is a "modern" form of transportation, their system will have all the features that led to the demise of Milwaukee's earlier streetcar system, 60 years ago.
Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin has said the US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise “excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence”. “In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute,” Putin said during a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.”It is not surprising that Putin would recognize the poison of Obama's system of liberal fascism before Americans would even realize that it exists.
If you're not a Wisconsin native, you've probably never heard of it.
But the city of Pewaukee, Wis., a small Milwaukee suburb overlooking a picturesque sailing and fishing lake of the same name, has award-winning schools, low crime, natural beauty, and homes for every budget. It topped the list of BusinessWeek.com's 2009 rankings of the "Best Affordable Suburbs." Pewaukee was selected for Wisconsin in our state-by-state rankings, and scored No. 1 on our nationwide list.
The city of Pewaukee should not be confused with the village of Pewaukee, which the city surrounds. (Pewaukee village, which has a beach on the eastern tip of the lake and serves as the downtown for the area, fell just short of Pewaukee city in our scoring for Wisconsin.)
Business Week's 2009 top rated affordable suburb in the United States is Pewaukee, my hometown.
Your awe is understandable. But if we are so great, why do the geniuses in city hall want to make Pewaukee more like our inferior neighbors, such as Brookfield and New Berlin?
If you can't make the mortgage payment on your house, you just may be trailer park trash.
House passes Obama's economic stimulus bill over bipartisan opposition
Q. Why will Jane Fonda vote for Barack Obama?Headless Blogger says, "Check them out."
A. Because Ho Chi Minh is dead.
Q. Why will Ho Chi Minh vote for Barack Obama?
A. Because Ho Chi Minh is dead.
History and origin
Jason Day and Aaron Chronister posted the dish in December 2008 on their "BBQ Addicts" blog.[3] It quickly became an internet phenomenon, generating more than 500,000 hits and 16,000 links to the blog, and was even included on political blogs because "Republicans like meat."[4][1][2] There are fan clubs and follow-up videos of various attempts to create the dish.[2]
The inventors are experienced barbecue competition participants from Kansas City, and compete in cook-offs as the Burnt Finger BBQ team.[2] According to the Telegraph, "They came up with the delicacy after being challenged on Twitter to create the ultimate bacon recipe."[2] They christened their innovation the "Bacon Explosion: The BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes."[2]
The Bacon Explosion is similar to a number of previously published recipes, and Day and Chronister do not claim to have invented the concept.[1] Earlier in December 2009 (sic), Headless Blogger posted a recipe for the "Ultimate Fattie, which is comprised of sausage, chili, pepperoni, and muenster cheese rolled into a bacon lattice.[5] This concoction was inspired by a bacon and cheese roll (again, lattice-based) posted by a user on the Foodroll blog.[5][6]
Commissar Frank says we need to take the glorious people's revolution to the next stage:
Congress will consider legislation to extend some of the curbs on executive pay that now apply only to those banks receiving federal assistance, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said.
“There’s deeply rooted anger on the part of the average American,” the Massachusetts Democrat said at a Washington news conference today.
He said the compensation restrictions would apply to all financial institutions and might be extended to include all U.S. companies.
Let's take the next logical step. Cap total compensation for any individual working for a corporation, foundation, educational institution, and other entity receiving government payments. This will have the positive effect of reducing the amount of government spending needed to support these institutions. And it can take some of the incentive out of increased federal spending
No, it — it — it's like — Inspector Gadget, you know? We — the — if you touch it, it might blow up.We just inaugurated the Pothead-in-Chief, can we get over Phelps taking a bong hit?
But more significantly, the bacon in the weave does not completely cook. If you look closely at the picture on the left, all of the bacon beneath the outermost weave is uncooked. This layer of raw bacon is absolutely disgusting. That is an advantage of the Redneck Sushi technique of precooking the bacon weave - all of your bacon is cooked.I like bacon as much as the next guy. I get it: it's a bit ironic, it's fatty, it's comforting, it's delicious. But for the love of God, people, enough is [bad word] enough!
If I never see another bacon-laden appetizer, I wont be sad. If I never hear the word bacon in conjunction with dessert, I wont weep. I mean, c'mon, bacon jumped the shark when it was infused in bourbon. And I LIKE bourbon AND bacon... But can we please just stop now?
Enough already. Bacon has become this year's vanilla ...
Bacon ... this year's vanilla.
Hang on a moment while I step into the kitchen.
FATHER'S GOURMET VANILLA BOURBON BACON. Real Kentucky Bourbon and vanilla compliment the traditional hickory bacon with a remarkable smooth flavor.Order your's here.
Time out Nancy, Harry, and Barack. Go to your rooms. Now think hard about paying for your past excesses. Don't come back out until you've come up with a plan for a solution. And don't even think about buying more goodies for your friends.It is not just Prime Minister Limbaugh and other conservative commentators who are critical of the Democrats' pork filled "stimulus" bill. The Chinese are starting to balk at buying our debt, and now the international community has checked in from Davos (this from Charlie Sykes).
The rest of the world is starting to wonder. Interesting that the Times didn't run stories like this BEFORE the House vote.
DAVOS, Switzerland — Even as Congress looks for ways to expand President Obama’s $819 billion stimulus package, the rest of the world is wondering how Washington will pay for it all.
Few people attending the World Economic Forum question the need to kick-start America’s economy, the world’s largest, with a package that could reach $1 trillion over two years. But the long-term fallout from increased borrowing by the federal government, and its potential to drive up inflation and interest rates around the world, seems to getting more attention here than in Washington.
As someone who is more conservative with my finances that I am politically (yes, really), this troubles me. I intend to leave my children and grandchildren with some sort of nest egg, even if this means working until I die.
From Raquel Rutledge's MJS article on the Wisconsin Shares taxpayer ripoff program.
The two-story house on 17th St. looks typical of the working-class homes on Racine's west side. Three bedrooms, one bath. Assessed by the city at $122,000.
Yet inside, a young woman has tapped into a home-based money-making operation that netted her and her three sisters more than half a million in taxpayer dollars since 2006.
And they did it with the blessing of the state.
All four had been in-home child-care providers. Collectively they have 17 children. For years, the government has paid them to stay home and care for each other's children.
Nothing illegal about it under the rules of Wisconsin Shares, the decade-old child-care assistance program designed alongside Wisconsin's welfare-to-work program.
With Wisconsin handing out deals like this, there is no reason anyone in this state would need help from private charities.
Screw 'em all. I'll waste that money on the lottery instead this year.
President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning - but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I won," Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.President Obama has already forgotten that he won the election by convincing undecided voters that he would implement a moderate Republican tax policy that included tax cuts for the middle class. Too bad for Obama that he will have a record to run on by the '12 election. He has already created fodder for 2012 and will be exposed as the socialist that he is.
The exchange arose as top House and Senate Republicans expressed concern to the president about the amount of spending in the package. They also raised red flags about a refundable tax credit that returns money to those who don’t pay income taxes, the sources said.
The Republicans stressed that they want to include more middle class tax cuts in the package, citing their proposal to cut the two lowest tax rates — 15 percent and 10 percent — to ten percent and five percent, rather than issue the refundable credit Obama wants.
