Monday, May 25, 2009
He's at it Again...
Kim Jong Ill, one of the leaders in the Axis of Evil is at it again. North Korea supposedly conducted another nuclear test this weekend in defiance of international agreements.The story so far according to AP/Yahoo!News:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090525/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear
And with our current administration's policies, one of my friend's commented that within 20 years the US will be the only nation without nukes.
My like minded-friends don't have any confidence that our Apoligizer-in-Chief and his administration can effectively confront the threats our nation faces. Especially when they're hellbent on allowing our nuclear capability to whither.
Four days ago, Obama made a speech on the Overseas Contingency Operations, formerly known as the War on Terror. Basically he stated our nation "went off course" in fighting our enemies.
We believe the primary error former President Bush committed was allowing terrorists to be treated like criminals instead of enemy combatants. Our enemies firmly believe they are at war with us. This trend of treating terrorists as criminals will continue to exacerbate our war efforts.
Full context of Obama's speech:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/us/politics/21obama.text.html?_r=2
In response, former VP Dick Cheney came out swinging (again) and defended the Bush Administration's action that kept us safe for 8 years:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/05/text_of_cheneys_aei_speech.asp
Meanwhile the issue of GITMO is heating up. Apparently several Democratic senators don't like the idea of bringing terrorist detainees to on to the US mainland--a definite case of NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard)!
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4mOZQZCTQoyqqgbms6XH7ud4c_wD989JHTG0
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Dodging the Economic Downturn
I managed to avoid one particular impact of the recession/economic downturn/whatever. The story of GM closing 1,000 dealerships made front page news in this morning's print edition of the Tacoma News Tribune.Why? Because at least 3 big dealerships here in Tacoma received "The Letter" on Thursday--including Robert Larson Chrysler-Jeep-Hyundai, where I bought my Jeep Liberty.
http://www.looklarson.com/
And no that's not me driving in the picture. Although I've driven in places like this in military Hummers.
Not only did I buy the Jeep, but the GM Maintenance Package too. When I read the first paragraph, my reaction was "Aw s**t! Now what the **** am I going to do!" Fortunately, according to the paper, the dealership's service department will remain open. (Whew!).
A good thing too. I just had the timing chain replaced last week. This was a 6-day job and I had to get a rental car. Lucky for me the timing chain was still under warranty, so I didn't have to pay for it--or the rental.
Here's the GM draw-down/restructuring story that nearly gave me a heart attack this morning:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/topstories/story/742279.html
Superheroes Need Not Apply...
...to the War on Terror.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I love comic books and have enjoyed this latest generation of superhero movies. (The above picture is from The Amazing Spiderman Variant Issue #583, or The Inauguration Issue).
However, there is one problem a couple of commentators pointed out: Superhero movies ignore our current jihadist enemies. It's as if they don't exist. Debbie Schlussel commented on this when the last Superman movie was released. Now Mark Steyn adds his comments in the wake of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/05/14/superheroes-are-starting-to-bug-me/
Ironman at least touched on our current operations in Afghanistan. Which maybe why I enjoyed it so much, even over my longtime favorite superhero Spiderman.
And while I still like these movies in general, Ms. Schlussel and Mr. Steyn have a point. Both Superman and Captain America came into being in the late 1930s. Captain America, a "supersoldier," was created to help fight our Axis enemies.
But times have changed and it's not politically correct to make inspirational movies about superheroes taking on real-world villains. That's the job of our real heroes--the men and women in our armed forces. However, "Hollyweird" has been hell-bent on vilifying our servicemen and women. It's been almost eight years since the 9/11 attacks and yet the only movies Hollywood cranked out are anti-war movies portraying American soldiers as torturers and rapists. Despite the unpopularity of our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan every one of these anti-war films flopped.
So not only have the superhero movies "let Hollywood off the hook," by avoiding our on-going war with the jihadist, but have recouped the losses from the anti-war films.
Bad Accident with Strange Twist
A couple days ago I was getting off night shift and driving home when I heard Washington State Patrol closed down part of Highway-167 or "River Road." My wife told me the full account last night.Here's the story in this morning's Tacoma News Tribune:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/742664.html
So far I haven't heard any updates on the mystery woman police found in the Puyallup River. (For you non-Washingtonians it's pronounced "Pew-ah-lup.").
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Well the superheroes in the Obama Administration and Congress continue their quest to bankrupt the American economy along with reducing our ability to secure our borders and defend our interests. The cuts in the Department of Defense (DoD) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will trim Obama's proposed deficit by a whopping 0.5%.
I noticed in the article below that a lot of proposed cuts, minus DoD and ICE, were proposed by former president Bush.
It's amazing now that Dr McSocialism's in office, all that was bad with the evil W's Administration is now good.
Budget Proposes Cuts in 121 ProgramsBy JONATHAN WEISMAN
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's detailed 2010 budget plan, due out Thursday, will propose to eliminate or consolidate 121 domestic and defense programs to save $17 billion, administration officials said Wednesday.
The trims, though modest, are likely to spark opposition from lawmakers and interest groups seeking to shift to someone else cuts aimed at narrowing next year's projected $1.2 trillion deficit.
"There are very few programs that don't have a constituency and someone who is willing to stand up for them in Congress. We understand that," a senior administration official said. But he added, "A lot of programs are implemented with the best of intentions. Not all of them are effective."
Compared with the total $3.6 trillion spending plan for 2010, the proposed trims amount to one-half of 1%. Half the cuts would come from defense, especially Pentagon weapons programs already spelled out by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, such as trimming back the fleet of advanced F-22 fighter planes. The other half would come from programs that have strong support among progressive activists who cheered Mr. Obama's election.
An administration official said that over 10 years, the total saved by the proposed program cuts would exceed $200 billion.
One of the biggest targets, the early childhood education program Even Start, had been on George W. Bush's target list since 2004.
Other programs slated for elimination are the Education Department's Jacob K. Javitz fellowship program and Christopher Columbus grants, the latter of which has a $1 million-a-year budget, 80% of which is overhead. Also gone would be an option to have the Earned Income Credit included in weekly or monthly paychecks, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency's Criminal Alien Program, which identified jailed criminal foreigners to ensure they are not released into the community. A White House aide also cited the Long Range Radio Navigation System, a $35 million Coast Guard system made obsolete by global positioning systems.
"Some of these have been on the books north of 40 years," said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. "Inertia set in."
The defense of many targeted programs has already begun. AIDS activists are fuming that an expansion of developing-world health programs will favor other health needs over HIV/AIDS.
Liberal think tanks are worried about a proposed partnership with state governments to root out fraud in joint state-federal programs such as Medicaid and children's health insurance.
"There is a kind of 'Nixon going to China' aspect to this," said Isabel Sawhill, co-director of the Center of Children and the Family at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. Just as only Republican President Richard Nixon could go to communist China in 1972 without being destroyed politically, only a popular Democrat could challenge liberal groups on sacrosanct programs that may have outlived their usefulness, she said.
"There's a different perspective that exists and a different sense of commitment," Mr. Emanuel said. "We bring a certain credibility."
White House officials acknowledged the similarity between Mr. Obama's 121 program cuts and consolidations and $17 billion savings and Mr. Bush's 151 programs and $18 billion savings proposed for 2009. About 40% of the programs Mr. Obama has targeted for elimination or consolidation come directly off a similar list proposed by Mr. Bush over the past two budget seasons on Capitol Hill. Congress largely ignored those proposed cuts.
—Greg Hitt contributed to this article.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Humor: "Barocky Road" Ice Cream
I friend of mine sent me this a few days ago:
What an Ice Cream Day (it would ruin ice cream in the future)
In honor of the 44th President of the United States, Baskin-Robbins IceCream has issued a new flavor, "Barocky Road".Barocky Road is a blend of half Vanilla, half Chocolate, and surrounded byNuts and Flakes. The Vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertisedand usually denied as an ingredient. The Nuts and Flakes are all verybitter and hard to swallow.
The cost is $100.00 per scoop plus taxes, lots of taxes.
When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, butthen the ice cream is taken away and given to the person in line behindyou. Thus you are left with an empty Wallet, no change, holding an emptycone, with no hope of getting any ice cream.
Aren't you feeling stimulated?
Humor: Always Twirl Once in Front of the Mirror
My wife sent me this photo with the caption:
ALWAYS twirl once in front of the mirror before leaving the house.
I think this woman DID twirl in front of the mirror and left the house anyway.
It's Not "Swine Flu," but H1N1 Flu
The US Department of Political Correctness has determined that the virus everyone's concerned about is not the "Swine Flu," but the H1N1 Flu. Apparently in Israel it's called the "Mexican Flu," while the US Government doesn't want to upset Mexico, or our own pork producers. So they're trying to convince everyone to us the virus's technical name.
Whatever it's called, 6 schools here in Washington State are closed because of several probable cases:
Meanwhile VP Joe Biden and Paris Hilton have something in common--they're both clueless:
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