Another Terrible Ted

Only this time, it's Strickland.....

So I need to make sure I'm on the same wave length with Ohio's top ranked "progressive".

He's against pay day loan operations because they take advantage of the poor people who use the service.

He's against casino gambling because it takes money away from the poor.

But he's all about video Keno?

Huh?

Gov. Ted Strickland betrayed fellow Methodists and reneged on a campaign promise not to expand gambling when he lent his support to a new lottery game, a prominent church leader said Thursday.

"Having talked to now-Gov. Strickland while he was campaigning for election, with my bishop present, I believe that Gov. Strickland has betrayed what he knows he communicated to the United Methodist community when he is now supporting keno gambling," said the Rev. John Edgar, chairman of the United Methodist Anti-Gambling Task Force.

Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister, said through his spokesman that he does not consider his support for keno - a video game that resembles bingo - to be a violation of his pledge.

Strickland backed the game to raise money to close an expected budget gap. The game is scheduled to begin statewide Aug. 1.

The Ohio Lottery Commission is controlled and regulated by the state, sanctioned by voters, and has a long history of offering new games, said governor's spokesman Keith Dailey. The Democratic governor believes that's all keno is: a new game.

So I guess the logic is this; it's not OK for private enterprise to steal from the poor. But if you are the state of Ohio government, it's more than welcome.....

Welcome to the Socialist Republic of Ohio.

Terrible Ted

Terrible Ted Nugent on the US court of supremacy rulings.

As I swab down one of my hundreds of privately owned, individually possessed firearms again this fine morning, I snicker and shake my head in disbelief that there are four "justices" on the "supreme" court that do not believe Americans have individual rights. Sure, I am somewhat pleased that we now have a SCOTUS confirmation of the self-evident truth and God given individual right to keep and bear arms, but the 5-4 ruling is another painful example, like Guantanamo and the decree against the death penalty for child rapist decisions that indicate a divisive culture war raging on, and four supreme justices frighteningly disconnected from the heart and soul of America.

Certain that God gave each of us the individual gift of life, and so very relieved that our founding fathers were prudent enough to write these self-evident truths down on paper for future reference, everybody I know needs no confirmation whatsoever that self defense, individual self defense is not only a God given right, but a moral imperative in the hearts and souls of good people everywhere.

Just as we wouldn't need confirmation that our choice of religion is indeed an individual right, or that we could possibly need a government permit to express our individual thoughts in speech, good Americans will continue to fight for the return of our sacred 2nd Amendment rights where someday soon we will not need a government issued license to keep and bear arms. After all, from the supreme court of common sense on the not so mean streets of America, everybody I know understands clearly that "keep" means one thing and one thing only: "It's mine and you can't have it". We know without question that "bear" can only mean, "Yes, I have it right here in my hands or within instant grasp", nothing more and nothing less. And dare I explain “shall not be infringed?" I hope not.

That these self-evident truths have been bastardized to the point of "gun free zones" is nothing less than heart breaking in America today. Everybody knows that it is in these anti-American, anti-Constitutional "gun free zones" where innocent people are forced into unarmed helplessness and where the highest body count of innocents are stacked up by evil perpetrators celebrating the condition of helpless sheep to slaughter. Since the insane gun ban, Washington, D.C. has been a violent criminal's dream environment where they are assured no resistance. That is a bizarre, immoral condition and a direct result of the cult of feel good liberals who could care less about dead good people as they wring their hands worrying about the rights of the most evil amongst us. For shame.

Amen brother

Fund on election

John Fund with a take on the election.

There is evidence that fall campaigns, which tend to focus voters on big-picture issues, usually help Republicans. In 1976, Gerald Ford was seen as a goner during the summer but rallied to finish only two points behind Jimmy Carter. A dozen years later, Michael Dukakis led George H.W. Bush in June and July. He lost by eight points in the fall. In 1992, Bill Clinton had a 10-point lead around Labor Day. He won by only five and a half points. Even Bob Dole closed a 12-point Labor Day gap to only eight points by November 1996. If that history is a guide, a focused McCain campaign that clearly contrasts conservative and liberal approaches to the issues should have a good chance of winning.

After all, it isn't easy for Democrats to win in a two-person race for president. Since FDR's last victory in 1944, only one Democrat – Lyndon Johnson in 1964 – has won 50.1% or more of the popular vote. Both of Bill Clinton's victories were aided by Ross Perot's presence on the ballot.

Obamamania - Catch it

Friday Funny

Hat Tip to Justin for this video from the Onion on how to pretend you care about politics.



Today Now!: How To Pretend You Give A Shit About The Election

Blog of the week

A new feature here at taxmanblog.

Each week I'll note a blog out there somewhere in the blogosphere that I find interesting.

This week, that blog is Stuff White People Like.

One of the posts.....

Menus with no decimal points

You can always spot the chic white person as they sit in the padded seats of a nice quaint, posh restaurant staring at the menus. When the other person asks, “What are you having tonight, James?” the reply can often be found to be, “I’m having the Lobster Pillows with Crab Demi-Glaze. It’s only 12.″ That’s right, white people have grown to love restaurants with such advanced math calculations as getting rid of those pesky decimals and something that is more aesthetically pleasing to our eyes and pocketbooks.

Menu prices with decimals seem to confuse the white person in recent times, making one wonder, “Where should I round up or down to get an accurate price?!” With the invention of dropping decimals from menus, white people have solved the problem for themselves. Tax? No problem. Jane, who works in auditing, sitting across the table, has long had all applicable taxes calculated for you upon entering through the door.

Knee high by the 4th of July

A nice field of corn near my palatial estate or, as a "progressive" would call, it 200 gallons of fuel.

It looks good. Now if we can just get another 100 million of these fields, all of our energy woes will be solved.

Throw mama under the bus

Gateway Pundit with the latest Obamanite to bite the dust.

Oops!... There goes another one!
Wright- Pfleger- His white grandmother- Trinity Church- Muslim girls at a rally...

Now it's the Maoist hardliner's turn to be airbrushed.

Mike Klonsky, the Maoist Hardliner, Obama supporter and former best friend of the Weatherman terrorist group founders William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, received a $175,000 grant from the William Ayers/Barack Obama-led Annenberg Challenge to run the Small Schools Workshop.

Klonsky belonged to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and was best friends with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who later became famous for their acts of terrorism when the SDS broke up and the Weathermen terror group was formed.

Between 1979 and 1981, Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (CPML) chairman and Obama supporter Mike Klonsky was repeatedly feted with state-dinner-level visits to Beijing.

Yesterday, Klonsky was posting a blog on the Obama website:

But, that was yesterday.

Today his blog was removed from the Obama website.
Comrade Klonsky is no longer with us.

Confederate Yankee with a running scoreboard on all the people with tread marks on them.

DUI checkpoint

A drunk driving checkpoint will take place Friday night somewhere in Mason, the Ohio State Highway Patrol announced this morning.

more...

As soon as we have confirmation as to the location of our latest waste of police resources, we'll post it right here.

“Evolving standards of decency..."

NRO on the Louisiana death penalty case.

Kennedy’s 36 pages of insufferable blather amount to little more than a declaration that the majority doesn’t think that capital punishment is ever a fair penalty for the rape of a child—“no matter,” as Justice Alito puts it in his dissent, “how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted, and no matter how heinous the perpetrator’s prior criminal record may be.”

I'm no attorney, but I seem to know the constitution better than Kennedy does.

The quote in the opinion that most frustrates me is Kennedy's assertion of “Evolving standards of decency....".

First, the constitution has a remedy for “Evolving standards of decency...", it's called an amendment. For instance, the citizenry's decided it was indecent to ask 18 year olds to die for their country yet not to be allowed to vote; hence, the 26th amendment.

Second, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the jury that voted 12-0 for a death sentence and the trial judge who agreed with it have an understanding of “Evolving standards of decency..." ie they probably would not have voted for a death sentence for someone stealing a horse.

But Kennedy, decided to ignore the jurors and judge who heard the testimony and decided that his “Evolving standards of decency..." usurped the people closest to the case.

Apparently, no one sent the memo to the 13 people who decided on a death sentence that “Evolving standards of decency" had changed as soon as Kennedy was appointed to the bench. I'm also guessing that none of those folks get a say on those “Evolving standards of decency".

The United States Supreme Court.... Yep, we're the same douche bags who brought you Dred Scott, Plessy v Ferguson, Kelo v. City of New London and Roe v. Wade.

DC had a gun ban?

In a what should have been a slam dunk unanimous decision (it ended up 5-4), the court of judicial supremacy today ruled the DC gun ban unconstitutional.

Frankly, I had no idea DC had a gun ban. I guess none of the murderers there got the memo.

Obamamania - Catch it

Excuse me. Did you hear that?

We're still waiting for the sound of Bronson Arroyo getting someone out.

Lawsuit of the Day

HT Publius on this legal argument between the University of Louisville and Duke University at Above the Law

U of L sued Duke for $450,000 -- or a series with another Atlantic Coast Conference opponent -- after the Blue Devils backed out of a four-game football contract with three dates remaining.

The contract called for a penalty of $150,000 per game if a date with a "team of similar stature" could not be arranged.

Duke's lawyers argued the Blue Devils, which have a record of 6-45 over the past five seasons, were so bad that any team would be a suitable replacement.

IRS mileage increase.

Since I am an accountant by trade, I actually have a blog related to my day job. It concentrates on tips for business, personal finance and taxes.

If you want to check it out, click here.

I have a post today regarding the IRS increase in the standard business mileage rate.

Obamamania - Catch it

Obama's magic energy beans

This is hilarious.

Who will win the world's despot vote?

When I vote on issues, I often see who's lining up on which side and and make a decision. Which group do I most align myself with?

Now, we have an election for president between two socialists and I can't decide which guy to choose from, so I'll go with who's endorsing who.

Yesterday, I posted on the endorsement from McCain's jailer in Vietnam.

Investor's Business Daily has a round up of some of the candidates prominent endorsements.

All of which contrasts with Barack Obama's campaign, which has become a magnet for dictators.

Real democracies don't tell other nations' citizens how to vote. But nations under one-man rule are another matter. Dictators' preferences are all personal and usually frankly stated. And this year they're all lining up behind Obama.

On Sunday, bloggers at One Free Korea noted that a North Korean mouthpiece, Chosun Sinbo, reported that dictator Kim Jong Il was adding his name to the list of those who support the Democratic standard-bearer.

"We will see a better relationship between the U.S. and the Korean Peninsula with Obama, who sternly criticizes Bush and who would meet the leader of Chosun without preconditions," Sinbo said.

North Korea, of course, is an odious nuclear dictatorship that starves its people and threatens its neighbors.

Obama also has been endorsed by Libya's Moammar Gadhafi. In a rambling speech last week, he advised Obama to "be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him."

Gadhafi has kept Libya a backward petro-dictatorship since 1969 — when McCain was in the Hanoi Hilton.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega also chimed in praise for Obama as "laying the foundations for a revolutionary change" in America. Ortega shot his way to power in 1979, was thrown out in 1990, and recently returned to power in an election split three ways that has seen the dismantling of Nicaragua's democracy.

Fidel Castro also has thrown his support to Obama, "the man who is doubtless, from the social and human points of view, the most progressive candidate to the U.S. presidency."

Congratulations Obama. You've pretty much locked up the world's despot vote and none of them even live in the 51-57 states you've campaigned in.

Imitating ding dongs, er, progressives

If you've read this blog enough, you've read many a post criticizing "progressives" who want to turn our country into Europe.

Now, I have a great mind in Thomas Sowell to back me up.

If anyone suggested that Tiger Woods should try to be more like other golfers, people would question the sanity of whoever made that suggestion.

Why should Tiger Woods try to be more like Phil Mickelson? If Tiger turned around and tried to golf left-handed, like Mickelson, he probably wouldn't be as good as Mickelson, much less as good as he is golfing the way he does right-handed.

Yet there are those who think that the United States should follow policies more like those in Europe, often with no stronger reason than the fact that Europeans follow such policies. For some Americans, it is considered chic to be like Europeans.

snip

Before we start imitating someone, we should first find out whether the results that they get are better than the results that we get. Across a very wide spectrum, the United States has been doing better than Europe for a very long time.

By comparison with most of the rest of the world, Europe is doing fine. But they are like Phil Mickelson, not Tiger Woods.

Minimum wage laws have the same effects in Europe as they have had in other places around the world. They price many low-skilled and inexperienced workers out of a job.

Wait until Ohio gets all that paid time off this fall, Ohioans will be envious of that 10 percent unemployment.

A thought provoking endorsement

John McCain received an unlikely endorsement today...

Tran Trong Duyet - a sprightly retiree and amateur ballroom dancer - must rank as one of John McCain's more unlikely supporters.

Four decades ago, during the Vietnam war, Mr Duyet was in charge of the notorious Hoa Lo prison - the place where Mr McCain says he was brutally beaten and tortured during five-and-a-half years as an American prisoner of war.

"McCain is my friend," said 75-year-old Mr Duyet as he feeds the caged birds he now keeps in his garden in this coastal city.

"If I was American, I would vote for him."

Is that Freudian?

Talk about a misread. I had to do a double take since this is what my mind first picked up on this headline.

Clinton to Join Obama As
He Courts Females

What? Are these guys on a booty hunt?

Article

It's all about Obama

Originally, I didn't want to get all in a huff about Obamamania's presidential seal. After all, every candidacy loves to abuse imagery to send some kind of subliminal message to the masses.

But after reading Matt Hurley's piece on the seal, I think there is a larger context to this whole seal deal. Namely, this "every thing Obama" has taken on cult like status. It's not the faking of his seal to look like the presidential seal that's the issue but the message that his seal (and his presidency) somehow transcends our established political institutions.

From Matt

And now, we examine the...uh...changes:

• The most noticeable change is the replacement of the shield with the Obama logo. Does this mean that the logo's creator believed that Obama was more important than America, which the shield represents?
• Behind the eagle head, is a rising sun - which in this context is supposed to evoke the idea that america's best days are ahead not behind (a noble thought), but does the logo's creator actually think that the only way America gets to see those better days is through Obama?
• The Latin phrase "E pluribus unum" which means "out of many, one" suggesting that out of many states emerge a single nation or out of many people have a single people and nation emerged is replaced with the Bob, the Builder classic line in Latin, "Vero Possumus" or "Yes, we can!" Again, the logo creator has chosen style over substance by ignoring America's history. On purpose?

If Obamamania is elected, what's next? Giant statues of him on all our public squares? Offices required to frame pictures of him?

I know it borders on the absurd but if you listen to clowns like Will Smith talk about this guy, you start to wonder.

If you've never heard the song Cult of Personality by Living Colour, you need to.

Here's a shocker!

Celebrities and intellectuals who backed the Sandinista revolution in the 1980s have accused President Daniel Ortega's government of stifling dissent.

Noam Chomsky, Salman Rushdie, Bianca Jagger and other high-profile former sympathisers have joined a chorus of alarm at recent actions.

The Sandinistas returned to power in Nicaragua last year after winning an election against a divided opposition, ending 17 years in the political wilderness and raising hopes of progress in central America's poorest nation. Much of that goodwill has evaporated after controversial decisions that have revived 80s-era suspicions over Ortega's commitment to democracy.

International donors, including Britain, have threatened to cut funding over what they say is an authoritarian and reckless style of government which is compounding economic woes. One of the most serious rows flared over the electoral agency barring two opposition parties from November municipal elections, claiming they missed a deadline for naming party representatives in all electoral districts.

Wow, who saw that one coming? Oh, that's right, conservatives did, 25 years ago.

I've always been amazed that the people most likely to support communist regimes are the first people the communists get rid of when they take over; intellectuals, homosexuals, writers, entertainers, etc. You'd think those intellectual types might know better.

By the way, to lump Bianca Jagger in as an "intellectual" might be a stretch, even for them.

Concerns about Obamamania

Bill Bennett with ten concerns about Obamamania.

Bill buddy, you didn't mention that's he's black (see previous post). How are we going to scare people without letting them know that he's black?

Surely, the fact that he's black, should make your top ten.

You mean, there are ten reasons to be concerned about Obamamania in addition to his being black?

Of course, all of us white people know that this column is all code to point out that Obamamania's black since there's no pictures of him being black in the article.

Progressive/Projection

I guess I had it wrong all these years, liberals aren't "progressives" they're "projectionists".

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Republicans to highlight the fact that he is black as part of an effort to make voters afraid of him.

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

Now it seems to me that the only people who have brought race into this election have been "projectionists" like The Billary. I can't think of an incident where a GOP candidate has brought up race into this election. Oh, by the way, if no one has noticed by now that Obama is black, I don't think the GOP is going to be able to point it out for them.

For what it's worth Mr. Obama, I won't be voting for you because you're black but because you've surrounded yourself with hordes of American hating, marxist, groupies. I'd do the same for a white guy.

Obamamania - Catch it

Paid Sick Days

A good piece at the Toledo Blade on the next "move your business out of Ohio" bill (HT Thurber's Thoughts).

The act would require employers with more than 25 employees to give full-time workers seven paid sick days a year and to allow part-time workers to earn sick days on a pro-rated basis.

It is being pushed by a union group and others who are gathering signatures to get the issue on the November general election ballot. Local experts predict they will succeed.

Proponents of the proposal praise it for giving Ohio workers proper time off to address health issues. Critics say it unfairly burdens small businesses.

Said Joan Pisanti, a spokesman for the Employers' Association of Toledo, "It looks good for employees on paper, but you might not have a job anymore" if employers suffer financially.

I have a question for the brain trust at Progress Ohio...

If this bill is so damn good for everyone, why are we exempting small businesses with fewer than 25 employees?

Seriously, why should Jane Doe get 7 paid sick days because her employer has 27 employees when her husband, who works just as hard, gets -0- because his employer only has 24 employees? Where's the fairness in that?

What is the deal with the labor unions in this state? Are they looking at Michigan and deciding that not having to work for no pay is better than actually having a job and receiving a paycheck? Do they have a secret love affair for states like North Carolina and Georgia who can't build businesses fast enough? Maybe the unions are run by Mexicans and they can't wait to return to Mexico, where all the great jobs will be soon!

If you don't think that Honda didn't see this one on the horizon when they decided to put that new plant in Greensburg IN, just outside of Ohio, you're smoking crack and/or just an imbecile.

An imbecile that would vote for this law.

George Carlin RIP

The seven dirty words. At least we have the internet now.

Food for Fuel

So Obamamania is not beholden to PACs and special interest. Talk to the NY Times....

When VeraSun Energy inaugurated a new ethanol processing plant last summer in Charles City, Iowa, some of that industry’s most prominent boosters showed up. Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association, for instance, came to help cut the ribbon — and so did Senator Barack Obama.

Then running far behind Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in name recognition and in the polls, Mr. Obama was in the midst of a campaign swing through the state where he would eventually register his first caucus victory. And as befits a senator from Illinois, the country’s second largest corn-producing state, he delivered a ringing endorsement of ethanol as an alternative fuel.

Mr. Obama is running as a reformer who is seeking to reduce the influence of special interests. But like any other politician, he has powerful constituencies that help shape his views. And when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn, he also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates.

Obamamania - Catch it

B.O. Footware

Happy Birthday Ray Davies.

The Powerline with a tribute and a video of Lola.

For me they'll go down as one of the most underrated rock bands in music history.

Slick's available?

The endgame of Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination took an unexpected turn today as her husband, former President Bill Clinton, updated his status on a popular social networking site.

Visitors to Mr. Clinton's profile page at Facebook noticed that minutes after Mrs. Clinton suspended her campaign, President Clinton updated his status from "Married" to "It's Complicated." .

The former president also added several items under the category of "looking for" on his profile page.

Previously, Mr. Clinton had indicated that he was on Facebook primarily for "networking," but today he added "friendship," "dating," and "a relationship" to the list. .

I understand that his "turn-offs" include pant suits.

More....

Obamamania - Catch it

Why don't they just call themselves Socialists?

A great piece at the American Thinker on the socialists after this week's statement from Rep Hinchey on the will to nationalize the nation's oil business.

But this quote is what caught my eye.

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of "liberalism," they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." - Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

You mean, he's not The Messiah?

Mark Shields, a dyed Blue Stater, finally figures out what we conservatives have known all along.

Obamamania, is just another politician....

But no reformer can admit he's simply refusing to surrender his huge dollar advantage. So as Sheila Krunmholz of the Center for Responsive Politics perfectly puts it, "Barack Obama is taking the high road all the way to the bank."

The Illinois Democrat argues the "public financing system as it exists today is broken." But indefatigable campaign reformer Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21 notes Obama "knew the circumstances surrounding the presidential general election when he made his pledge to use the system."

Obama also charges his GOP opponent's campaign and the Republican National Committee "are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and PACs." And what about those "so-called 527 groups who will spend millions of dollars in unregulated donations?"

Sounds good until you check the facts.

McCain has raised a grand total of $650,000 from the lobbying industry (Obama pledges not to accept lobbyists' or PAC money), according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and just 1 percent of his contributions are from PACs. Talk about a paper tiger.

snip

Obama did not "aggressively pursue" any agreement. He did not sit down with John McCain.

He did not do what he told us he would do. He may very well win the White House. But even if he does, Barack Obama will still be just one more politician who broke his word.

More "progressive" thinking

George Will on liberals who can't seem to make the connection of why crime drops but the prison population grows.....

Listening to political talk requires a third ear that hears what is not said. Today's near silence about crime probably is evidence of social improvement. For many reasons, including better policing and more incarceration, Americans feel, and are, safer. The New York Times has not recently repeated such amusing headlines as "Crime Keeps on Falling, But Prisons Keep on Filling" (1997), "Prison Population Growing Although Crime Rate Drops" (1998), "Number in Prison Grows Despite Crime Reduction" (2000) and "More Inmates, Despite Slight Drop in Crime" (2003).

If crime revives as an issue, it will be through liberal complaints about something that has reduced the salience of the issue -- the incarceration rate. And any revival will be awkward for Barack Obama. Liberalism likes victimization narratives and the related assumption that individuals are blank slates on which "society" writes. Hence liberals locate the cause of crime in flawed social conditions that liberalism supposedly can fix.

Last July, Obama said that "more young black men languish in prison than attend colleges and universities." Actually, there are more than twice as many black men ages 18 to 24 in college as there are in jail. Last September he said, "We have a system that locks away too many young, first-time, nonviolent offenders for the better part of their lives." But Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute, writing in the institute's City Journal, notes that from 1999 to 2004, violent offenders accounted for all of the increase in the prison population. Furthermore, Mac Donald cites data indicating that:

"In the overwhelming majority of cases, prison remains a lifetime achievement award for persistence in criminal offending. Absent recidivism or a violent crime, the criminal-justice system will do everything it can to keep you out of the state or federal slammer."

So let me ask Mr. Progressive out there. Are these life time criminals living in the suburbs or are they living in the cities where they continue to victimize the poor and less fortunate?

Dumb and Dumber

Democrats love to beat on Bush's approval ratings but what about that US congress?

Gallup's annual update on confidence in institutions finds just 12% of Americans expressing confidence in Congress, the lowest of the 16 institutions tested this year, and the worst rating Gallup has measured for any institution in the 35-year history of this question.

Nancy, you do realize a fossilized mammoth turd or Bob Taft gets better approval ratings than this?

The United States Congress - Creating solutions for nonproblems and then non solutions for problems and then problems for solutions, etc. since 1796.

Obamamania - Catch it

How pristine is ANWR ?

I can see why we wouldn't want to mess up this beauty of an American landscape.

It's so lame, even the caribou avoid it.

HT Weekly Standard

Section 8 migration

An excellent, but lengthy, piece in The Atlantic regarding the dispersement of Section 8 housing recipients into the suburbs.

It speaks to much of what I have in my previous post; only, in this case the city of Memphis.

It’s difficult to contemplate solutions to this problem when so few politicians, civil servants, and academics seem willing to talk about it—or even to admit that it exists. Janikowski and Betts are in an awkward position. They are both white academics in a city with many African American political leaders. Neither of them is a Memphis native. And they know that their research will fuel the usual NIMBY paranoia about poor people destroying the suburbs. “We don’t want Memphis to be seen as the armpit of the nation,” Betts said. “And we don’t want to be the ones responsible for framing these issues in the wrong way.”

So what will happen? Nothing. And the city of Memphis will continue to degenerate into another urban shit hole.

He's a hater

Dave at NixGuy picked up on a post from Bill at The Daily Bellweather regarding the shift in Hamilton County voters from predominately republican to democrat.

As one of those people who changed their registration from republican to democrat, I think there's a good chance these numbers could be skewed as a result of "operation chaos" .

Regardless, it's only a matter of time until the puss of poor liberal government oozes into Hamilton county and democrats dominate the county just like the city of Cincinnati.

In the comments section of Dave's site, Bill tries to write me off as a hater of the city; it's so old & liberal. Instead of urbanites asking the question "Boy, we've lost 700,000 people out of the city over the past forty years. Why?", they just want to write off the people who leave as racist, smug, arrogant haters.

Instead of asking, "Boy the people who pay taxes and contribute to our city are leaving and the only ones who stay are the drug dealers, murderer and thieves, why?", they just write off those good taxpaying citizens as suburban snobs.

So guys like Bill can cast off the flight of good taxpaying citizens as a some kind of city hating conspiracy. Or maybe, they'll figure out that their anti business, city governments are driving out businesses and the residents that follow.

My guess is, like most liberals, they'll look at Michigan as the government standard; totally clueless.

This is a new kind of leadership?

The Weekly Standard on the National Security advisers surrounding Obamania.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Senator David Boren, former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Secretary of State Warren Christopher
Greg Craig, former director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning
Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig
Representative Lee Hamilton, former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder
Dr. Tony Lake, former National Security Advisor
Senator Sam Nunn, former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Secretary of Defense William Perry
Dr. Susan Rice, former Assistant Secretary of State
Representative Tim Roemer, 9/11 Commissioner
Jim Steinberg, former Deputy National Security Advisor

Look familiar? It's a who's who of former Clintonites.

It's a '70's flashback

It's been about 20 years since my last intake of all mind altering drugs outside of a Bud Light. But last night, I fell asleep to the TV show Swingtown (maybe the worst show in the history of television next to Cop Rock) and when I woke up, I started to think I was still in the 1970's.

Apparently, CBS wanted all of us to go back to those wonderful days of the 1970's by introducing Swingtown to us. But when I looked at a few blogs I see windfall property taxes, keeping our thermostats down, excessive gasoline prices, and Carter running against Ford. Now I'm convinced that I must have been thrown into a time capsule and shipped to 1976.

What's next? Dorothy Hamil winning the gold? Happy Days as the number 1 TV show? A release of Frampton Comes Alive? Shag haircuts? Big Bell Levi's?

At least the Reds will be a winner again.

Web site of the week

Have you ever wondered if global warming is the cause for Acne? Now you can find out for sure at this web site.

It's a list of links to articles for every problem linked to global warming. And yes global warming is the cause for acne, as well as, depression, collapsing gingerbread houses, and mammoth dung melt.

Enjoy.

By the way, the score for the global warming challenge

Warm - 173
Cool - 183

Jim Carrey as Vanilla Ice

Another Friday Funny from the funniest show in TV history.

Friday Funny - CSI: Jim Carrey

If you've ever catch CSI Miami, you'll find this one hilarious.

Obama's split personality

David Brooks on Obamania's Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde split personality.

Back when he was in the Illinois State Senate, Dr. Barack could have taken positions on politically uncomfortable issues. But Fast Eddie Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times. From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.

Dr. Barack said he could no more disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than disown his own grandmother. Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have been a workhorse senator. But primary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.

Dr. Barack could have changed the way presidential campaigning works. John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.

And then on Thursday, Fast Eddie Obama had his finest hour. Barack Obama has worked on political reform more than any other issue. He aspires to be to political reform what Bono is to fighting disease in Africa. He’s spent much of his career talking about how much he believes in public financing. In January 2007, he told Larry King that the public-financing system works. In February 2007, he challenged Republicans to limit their spending and vowed to do so along with them if he were the nominee. In February 2008, he said he would aggressively pursue spending limits. He answered a Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire by reminding everyone that he has been a longtime advocate of the public-financing system.

But Thursday, at the first breath of political inconvenience, Fast Eddie Obama threw public financing under the truck. In so doing, he probably dealt a death-blow to the cause of campaign-finance reform. And the only thing that changed between Thursday and when he lauded the system is that Obama’s got more money now.

Obamania - Catch it

Get out your flip flops

Obamania is starting to make John Kerry look like the Rock of Gibralter.

ABC with a piece on all the flip flops in just the last week.

Iraq withdrawal
Campaign financing
NAFTA

And much, much, more.......

Keeping your word

Your word is everything...... Well, at least until it isn't



HT Buckeye Ag

Forgive me for I have sinned

Al Gore, Pastor of the Church of Global Warming, has been cheating on his flock.

A year after the Tennessee Center for Policy Research exposed Gore’s prodigious personal use of electricity at his Nashville mansion (20 times the national average), the center reported this week that Gore’s personal electricity consumption during the past year actually increased by 10 percent.

So while he campaigns for Americans to curtail their electricity use — you should take cold showers, forego air conditioning and dry your clothes on a clothesline — Gore is plugging in and turning on more than ever.

He tried to defend himself by stating that his family "has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100 percent green power …, installing solar panels and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy-saving technology."

Do you think the Reverend will stand in front of his congregation and cry those Jimmy Swagert crocodile tears?

Who will she vote for? #42

Meet Duyanna Anderson.

What's Ms. Anderson in the news for?

A woman appeared in court Wednesday on accusations that she helped her daughter beat up another girl.

Police said Duyanna Anderson held the 12-year-old girl down so her 12-year-old daughter could hit and choke her.

Now, this November does Ms. Anderson vote for

Ralph Nader, who will nationalize the oil business?
Bob Barr, who let Big Oil drill in every back yard in the country?
Barack Obama, who will hope and change the oil business without actually having a plan?
Or John McCain?

Arranging deck chairs on the Titanic

So your city is a crumbling armpit with taxpaying citizens leaving so fast it resembles the Exodus.

What do you do?

If you are a "progressive" city like the city of Cincinnati, you use scarce public resources to issue a 212 page "Climate Protection Action Plan".

Some of the tips

- Use those curly mercury lined light bulbs.
- Don't eat beef
- Ride bicycles

Boy, I know I feel relieved that the city is paying attention to things like this instead of those little piddly things like the murder rate.

HT Brian Thomas.

What party is he?

Taxpayers spent more than $170,000 to send Gov. Mike Easley, his wife and a dozen others on a nine-day business-recruiting trip to Italy.

The expenses ranged from $700 for a lunch for eight in Rome to $61,000 for a daily chauffeured Mercedes just for North Carolina's first couple, referred to on the invoice as "Governor Easley and Lady Easley."

The state released documents concerning the April trip after a public records request, but the bills are still coming in. Still unknown are expenses for Easley's security detail and the head of the state Commerce Department.

The question class. What party is he?

This is what qualifies as successful?

An excerpt from the speech Obamania gave last week in Columbus.

A secure retirement is no longer a guarantee for the middle class. It's harder to save and harder to retire. People are losing their pensions. If we do not act, the promise of Social Security will grow harder to keep. That's why I will fight every day to extend the promise of a retirement that is dignified and secure when I am President of the United States.

It starts with protecting Social Security today, tomorrow, and forever. For millions of Americans, Social Security is the difference between a comfortable retirement and the risk of poverty. We have an obligation to secure the future of one of the most successful programs in our history. And that starts with talking straight to the American people about the challenges that lie ahead.

This is what qualifies as successful to a government bureaucrat. By what measure? The largest transfer of wealth in the country's history? Maybe it's the 27 trillion in unfunded liability that makes it successful? If it's so damn successful why do we have to increase taxes on it just to keep it going?

Obamania - Catch it

Mark at the Paindealer asked if I made these up myself.

Until today, I got these from this site.

You can actually build your own sign at this site.

If you want to put one together and sent it to me I'll post it here.

What party is she?

Maryland state prosecutors raided the home of Mayor Sheila Dixon yesterday as part of an investigation into past spending practices at City Hall, the most aggressive move so far in the years-long probe.

After spending more than seven hours inside, state prosecutors and police emerged from Dixon's house - in Hunting Ridge, along the city's western border with Baltimore County - carrying boxes, folders and a blue cooler they had brought in with them.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the search and gave no indication of what they were looking for or what they removed from Dixon's home. Asked about the raid as she left her house yesterday morning, Dixon responded: "Ask them."

The mayor kept to her schedule, and several political allies defended her publicly, but the search - a strong indication that Dixon is at the center of the investigation - had a disquieting effect on City Hall.

Nowhere in the article is her political affiliation indicated.

So guess what political party she's in? Think blue.

Bringing us together

Boy, for a guy who's all about bringing people together, Obamania sure has his share of "not bringing people together".

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama's rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, all Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.

"This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers."

Hey Barry, here's an idea.... Try being divisive. You might find that's more inclusive of all your friends.

Obamania - Catch it

What happened to the "Contract with America"?

Dick Armey with a great piece in Imprimis...

BOTH THE CREATION of the Contract with America in 1994 and its subsequent abandonment can be explained in terms of the conflict in government between what I call legislative entrepreneurs and legislative bureaucrats. In 1994, when we wrote the Contract, entrepreneurs were strong. Today, as most of the time, bureaucrats are running things.

By legislative entrepreneur, I mean a person who has a set of principles and is willing to take risks on its behalf. A legislative bureaucrat, by contrast, seeks only to perpetuate the current situation with the motive of remaining safely in office. The fact that legislative bureaucrats are usually in command reminds me of Armey’s Axiom Number One: “The market is rational. The government is dumb.” I know the former to be true as someone who has studied economics. I know the latter to be true as someone who spent a long time in Congress.

One of the greatest entrepreneurial moments in the history of human government was the writing of our Constitution. America’s Founders understood clearly what it means to accomplish a goal on behalf of ideas and principles that rise above self-interest. George Washington might have become our king, but chose not to. His governing idea was that government is our servant because we are inherently free. It is an idea too many in government today forget.

Quarterly reminder

It's time again for my quarterly challenge to "progressives" throughout the land.

Here is the 2004 Bush-Kerry electoral map by county.

As you can see, the break down between blue and red is not a state thing but a county thing.

In those blue, urban, counties, run by "progressives" we can expect to find the following.

High taxes.
High crime.
High unemployment.
Horrible schools
Run down slums all around

In those red, exurban/suburban areas run by republicans, we can expect to find the following.

Lower taxes.
Lower crime.
Low unemployment.
Better schools.
Nice properties all around.

Now let's assume I move to the US from another country and I'm trying to choose between a blue area and a red area.

Unless I'm on a suicide mission, why would I want to move to an area run by democrats?

C'mon "progressives". Give me your best sales pitch.

Another sign of summer

How do you know when summer is upon you? Besides the stacks of cicadas outside your doors.

When murder season starts up in all our inner cities cities across the nation. Those cities run by "progressives".

Cincinnati achieved it's 27th homicide last night. I believe we're way off the pace from 2006 but with a long hot summer, we'll probably be able to catch up quick.

Takin' it to the Streets

Last night kicked off the Gekko summer concert tour with the Doobie Brothers and Chicago.

This was our second time for the Doobies (if you don't count "the incident" in Blue Ash). They kicked out another great show. I was originally disappointed that they only played for an hour.

I am a Chicago fan of just about everything pre-Chicago X. Anything after that album is basically nice array of Peter Cetera chick classics. Frankly, the reason I'm not big on those songs is that Cetera's voice always makes my testicles hurt.

Well, they've got his replacement and they did all those chick songs; and yes, I had the same pain in that sensitive area.

Regardless, the encore was worth the price of admission. Both bands came out and played tunes from both bands; 15 guys on stage, three drummers, four guitars, four horns, etc.

The extra horns made for an awesome dueling sax solo on Takin' it to the Streets and the four guitars each played solos on 25 or 6 to 4.

I'd give the show a thumbs up. Go catch it.

General thoughts on the show.

Riverbend - Last year, I noted what a dump this place was. Well, if you make no improvements it doesn't get any better. Going to the bathroom is still akin to walking through Cedar Rapids Iowa; about two inches of water/piss everywhere.

What's with the pot smoking? I'm still working off a Willie Nelson like contact buzz from last night. Is it too hard to get through a show without burning up a fat boy?

Despite the pot smoking it is nice to get through a show without seeing someone puke, pass out, or pull up their top. OK.... maybe two of those.

Next up.... Rush..... 6/30 at the pasture otherwise known as Riverbend.

Which party represents my dad?

For the past few days, I've been in a posting rut. I think most of it stems from the visit with my dad on Father's Day.

I've been feeling this frustration on behalf of a guy that's worked his ass off for the last 50 years and I'm wondering, which party represents him?

He's a guy who, while he owns his own business, won't shop at Walmart; even goes so far as trying to find shoes made in America but is tremendously aggravated with a government that screws him over time and time again as it relates to his business; a smokey, old, beer and a shot bar.

I asked him about the new yuppie coffee shop that opened up across the street from his bar.

Quoting Dad, "They stay on their side of the street, we stay on our side of the street and everyone gets along. By the way, why in the hell would anyone pay for a $4 a cup of coffee that's not even as good as White Castle's?"

And yet, many of those yuppies buying that $4 cup of coffee, voted for the state's smoking ban even though they would never even set foot into his bar.

Who the hell do you people think you are?

They're the same people who think their doing a favor to the working guy by increasing the minimum wage. Well for guys like my dad, he just ended up working more since he can't afford to replace people with the new minimum wage workers.

Who the hell do you people think you are?

They're the same people who will vote for paid sick days which will be yet another job and profit killer for guys like my dad.

Who the hell do you people think you are?

Guys like my dad are getting screwed by the excessive gas price increases since his customers have less disposable income.

What is congress doing to rectify that screw job? Not a damn thing.

Now my dad is smart enough to know that it's the arugula eating douche bags of the democratic party responsible for this mess. Yet few of these measures would ever pass if there wasn't complicity on behalf of republicans and so called conservatives who don't seem to have a problem with regulation as long as it's not their business.

The man is 66 years old and still working primarily because the government has made it next to impossible for him to hire motivated workers at a wage he can negotiate with his workers.

So I'm bitter right now. Bitter because a guy who's done nothing but go to work each day, pays his taxes, and does people right, has less representation in government than a fucking polar bear in Alaska or a sea otter off the San Francisco coast.

He's just another gun and God clinging cast off in fly over country for people in Marin County to make fun of; like monkeys at the zoo.

So as far as I'm concerned, both John McCain and Barack Obama can kiss my ass until one of them decides to represent my dad.

Obamania - Catch it

Abstinence

Now that we're on the senior party circuit we've got all kind of commercials telling our kids to abstain from drunk and dangerous driving.

But teaching our kids to abstain from sex is somehow a no-no even though the consequences could mean death.

Manon Jones, 18, suffered bleeding and went into shock after part of the embryo remained inside her.

Doctors admitted her care on the night she died was compromised because they were so busy dealing with other cases and had they had more time to treat her "things could have been different".

I guess condoms weren't available since someone sent 16,000 down to Antarctica.

Blame the oil companies

So those nasty oil companies are doing everything they can to drill the American public?

What if I told you that they spend more money in taxes than they do actual oil exploration?

Over at the American Thinker, they have a nice piece on oil and the price we end up paying at the pump.

Is he a Muslim?

There's been plenty of criticism of bloggers speculating about Obama's faith. The Obamania camp has even set up a site to dispel many of these rumors.

Before Obamaniacs starts banging on a vast right wing conspiracy for calling him a muslim, he may want to talk to his half brother, Malik.

Apparently the Obamas of Kenya have been reading those scurrilous emails to which Barack likes to refer, because they have no doubt -- contrary to the claims of the Obama campaign, that the presidential candidate was raised a Moslem. They take that as a given.

As the Jerusalem Post reports, "Barack Obama's half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background. In an interview with Army Radio he expressed a special salutation from the Obamas of Kenya."

Who will she vote for? #6

Meet Diane Usher. Why is Diane in the news?

A Milford mother was arrested late Monday and charged with participating in a drug transaction while her two small children in tow, police said.

Diane Unser, 38, is held this morning at the Hamilton County jail on charges of drug possession and child endangering, court records show.

She was arrested about 11 p.m. on Globe Avenue after Norwood police’s drug task force discovered her with crack cocaine, court records show.

Now come November, will Diane cast her presidential ballot for ....

The man who will rid our government of the corporate types who run it... Ralph Nader?
The man who will rid the government of itself.... Bob Barr?
The man who will transform racial relations in this country in Barack Obama?
Or John McCain?

Another Che groupie for Obama

Once again the cult of Che shows up on another photo.

Meet Ohio common pleas judge James Burge, marxist.

A judge in Ohio says the state's method of putting prisoners to death is unconstitutional because two of three drugs used in the lethal injection process can cause pain.

Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge said Tuesday the state's lethal injection procedure doesn't provide the quick and painless death required by Ohio law.

Burge said Ohio must stop allowing a combination of drugs and focus instead on a single, anesthetic drug.

The ruling is likely be appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Ohio has executed 26 inmates since it resumed putting prisoners to death in 1999.

HT Brian Thomas

Sounds like a "progressive"

Here's an interesting piece on the "7 habits of losers"

1. Sees a problem in every opportunity:
2. Passes the buck:
3. Uses antagonistic phrases:
4. Cuts losses quickly:
5. Hooked up on cable and lottery drug:
6. Seeks approval from others:
7. He doesn't know what he wants from life:

Don't we need a government program for this?

Obamania - Catch it

State run Keno

Yesterday, I went up to Round Town (Circleville) to visit my dad on father's day and he had a few choice words for the Governor of Ohio.

Roughly quoting Pops

So the state increases the minimum wage so I make less money and pay less in taxes, then they ban smoking in my bar which has reduced my business by 20%. Now I get a letter from the governor asking for my support of on line Keno. He can kiss my ass.

Where was all this interest in my business before all that other shit passed?

You go Pops.