When EF Senator talks, you better listen

I always say, I'm not the smartest guy in the room but I try to imitate what the smart guys are doing.

So if you want some insider trading tips.... don't follow Martha Stewart.... follow your local senator........

Why isn’t congressional members required to put their holdings into a blind trust?

Why can’t we ban insider trading by Congress members be banned?

How cant these elected officials do “the people’s business” when they are too busy running around trading on the votes they are about to cast?

How one earth can we ever get fair outcomes of issues involving finance, healthcare, or energy when the members so personally have a monetary stake in an outcome they may or may not be in the public interest?

Why aren’t these people in jail?

~~~

1. General Electric (GE)

Members invested: 75
Total value of holdings (max.): $11.41 million
Total value of holdings (min.): $3.58 million

Top Congressional Investors
Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.) – $1 million to $5 million
John Kerry (D.-Mass.) – $616,004 to $1.315 million
Michael McCaul (R.-Texas) – $400,003 to $850,000

2. Procter & Gamble (PG)

Members invested: 62
Total value of holdings (max.): $39.42 million
Total value of holdings (min.): $8.72 million

Top Congressional Investors
Rodney Frelinghuysen (R.-N.J.) – $7.07 million to $35.15 million
Michael McCaul (R.-Texas) – $200,002 to $500,000
James B. Renacci (R.-Ohio) – $180,485 to$222,482

3. Bank of America (BAC)

Members invested: 57
Total value of holdings (max.): $5.41 million
Total value of holdings (min.): $2.83 million

Top Congressional Investors
Rodney Frelinghuysen (R.-N.J.) – $1.02 million to $1.08 million
John M. Spratt Jr. (D.-S.C.) – $500,001 to $1 million
Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.) – $500,001 to $1 million

4. Microsoft (MSFT)

Members invested: 56
Total value of holdings (max.): $6.43 million
Total value of holdings (min.): $3.22 million

Top Congressional Investors
John Kerry (D.-Mass.) – $1.77 million to $2.55 million
Michael McCaul (R.-Texas) – $515,003 to $1.05 million
Jane Harman (D.-Calif.) – $130,003 to $350,000

Thanks reader Tim


Read the rest..........

Life in "Progress" City- Detroit

What says progress more than a city that is 90% democratic?

With Detroit Mayor Dave Bing preparing to explain the city's fiscal crisis tonight in a rare televised address, Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown says the situation is even worse than anyone has let on.

Bing is expected to discuss a confidential Ernst & Young report obtained by the Detroit Free Press that suggests Detroit could run out of cash by April without steep cuts to staff and public services.

That's a grim prognosis, but according to Brown, the city actually could be unable to make payroll "as early as December."

"I know the report says April, but there are certain risk assumptions that when you take those into consideration, worst case scenario you could run out (of cash) in December," Brown said this morning on WJR-AM 760.

In his speech tonight, Bing is expected to propose privatizing the city's public bus system and lighting departments, both of which have have been failing residents but reportedly cost them $100 million a year in subsidies.

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"....fundamentally right wing"

As part of the solidarity with OWS, Harvard students (some of the 99% don't you know) are boycotting Greg Mankiw's basic Econ class...........

Students believe that several problems with the class itself contributed to that conservative bias. Some, including Sandalow-Ash, said that the class is “not mathematically rigorous” and presents a simplified view of the economic models. According to MIT economics Professor Jonathan H. Gruber ’87, MIT’s introductory economics courses, 14.01 and 14.02, differ from Harvard’s because they use more advanced mathematical models.

The other specific problem raised with the class is a lack of primary source material. “We just read his textbook. … We would rather read Adam Smith or studies by other economists rather than [Mankiw’s] interpretation of them,” said Sandalow-Ash.

Some question whether the walkout was the most effective way to discuss a problem with the course and to support the Occupy movement. Gruber, who teaches 14.01 this fall, said that “the Occupy movement has a good, strong message and I don’t want them to muddy it up … [by] protesting economics.”

When asked why the students chose a walkout approach instead of talking privately with Mankiw, Sandalow-Ash responded that “he’s not very accessible” and that they wanted to draw attention to their cause. According to an article published in the Harvard Political Review, Mankiw has only given three lectures this semester, while the rest of the material was presented in sections and by guest lecturers. Mankiw declined to comment for this article.

There is room for debate about whether or not Economics 10 has a conservative bias. According to Gruber, “basic economics is fundamentally right wing. … It’s not about bias; it’s how the free market works.” When it comes to teaching economics without bias, you have to “acknowledge [that fact] and … approach things even-handedly,” Gruber said.

"Basic economics is fundamentally right wing"? Seriously?

Why might that be? Because it actually makes sense? Because, unlike global warming, you can actually prove things like the Law of Supply and Demand?  Because maybe, it's the conservative view point that's actually supported by "science"?

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McCaskill Outlines Plan To Solve $15 Trillion Debt

Kind of like proper inflation of tires will solve our energy demands.

Obama thinks Hawaii is in Asia

Since when did Sarah Palin become a black man?

CTU President Karen Lewis Uncensored - NSFW

And this is the quality of person molding our youth?

Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Three and a Half Days

Tea Party Filth

For some reason, I've grown fond of old westerns I couldn't stand when I was a kid. Probably because every other show was either Bonanza, Gunsmoke, or Big Valley.

So imagine you are a cowboy on the trail and you come across this sight; syringes, feces, broken bongs,  stench from BO.

I can hear Marshall Dillon now "Festus, I think those tea partiers are only a couple of hours a head of us, it looks like they're following the trail to a local country club".

Thanks reader Jeremy for the link.

The question no one will ask

I saw this article on the front page of a USA today this morning...........

Medical authorities are witnessing explosive growth in the number of newborn babies hooked on prescription painkillers, innocent victims of their mothers' addictions.

The trend reflects how deeply rooted abuse of powerful narcotics, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, has become. Prescription drug abuse is the nation's fastest-growing drug problem, classified as an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"I'm scared to death this will become the crack-baby epidemic," says Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Last month, she asked the state Legislature to establish a task force to compile data on drug-exposed babies and develop prevention strategies.

National statistics on the number of babies who go through withdrawal are not available, and states with the worst problems have only begun to collect data. Scattered reports show the number of addicted newborns has doubled, tripled or more over the past decade. In Florida, the epicenter of the illicit prescription drug trade, the number of babies with withdrawal syndrome soared from 354 in 2006 to 1,374 in 2010, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

Here's what I want to know. How many of these babies are being carried by moms on public assistance?

No where in the article is a mention of welfare but I'd bet my life savings that the majority of these moms are sucking off the government tit for their high and getting knocked up in the process.

But instead, we'll dance around the issue and talk about education and lack of economic opportunity and the issue will just get worse.

Who did she vote for?

I think it's so unfair that people are able to climb the corporate ladder faster than I can.

A democrat on an escalator

VP Biden says he called Jon Corzine for advice

I agree with Obama for a change

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I agree with Obama, we were damn lazy to check this guy out to ensure he wasn't a job killing socialist before electing him.

To Catch a Journalist: New Jersey Star-Ledger

Who did she vote for? #10018

Meet unnamed fat ass.

Out of curiosity, has she ever counted her carbon footprint for all the excess calories she inhales?



None the less, did this whaler vote for McCain or Obama in the last presidential election.

Thanks reader Jeremy for the link.

Life in "Progress" City - Chicago edition

My sister-in-law is looking to get the hell out of Chicago.

Geez, I wonder why?

Police have launched an investigation after a man was caught on video knocking out an older man at the Chicago Avenue Red Line stop while others laughed and mimicked the attack.

The assault occurred in April, but the video has only recently surfaced on the Internet.

The video, posted at worldstarhiphop.com, shows a man in a tan coat moving among people on the southbound subway platform as a group of youths joke and laugh. One of the youths starts following the man, turning around and smiling as his friends whoop and laugh.

The youth, dressed in a black vest jacket, then appears to tap the man to get his attention. When the man turns around, the two appear to exchange a few words before the youth suddenly strikes him on the side of the head.

Check out the video here..........

Merry Christmas

When journalists discovered yesterday that the Federal Registry included a new 15-cent tax on fresh Christmas trees, they cried "War on Christmas!" and accused President Obama of trying to destroy American traditions. This was fairly silly, of course, but no more silly than the tax itself.

The administration was never trying to destroy Christmas. (It suspended the fee this afternoon.) In fact, it was trying to save Christmas -- for the Christmas tree lobby. The fee was requested by the National Christmas Tree Association to pay for a new marketing campaign to save itself from further collapse.

Fresh-tree sales fell by 16 percent in 16 years to 31 million in 2007. A 2004 article on the crisis in fresh trees reported that in 1990, roughly equal numbers of households put up real trees and fake trees -- about 35 million each. "A decade later, the split was 32 million live and 50.6 million artificial," they said. (If anybody's "killing Christmas" by letting pine trunks rot in parking lots, it's Christian families and their fake Christmas trees.)

As Ronald Reagan once said, if you see business move, you tax it. If it continues to move, you regulate it. When it quits moving, you subsidize it.

Thanks reader Jeremy for the tip.

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#occupy Joe Paterno

I was surprised last night when the lovely Mrs. Gekko was so insistent on watching the Joe Paterno coverage. She's not exactly a big sports fan.

But as i watched the coverage, these were my original thoughts on the matter.

1) You don't go to the cops when you see and/or report the RAPE OF A CHILD? I told Mrs. Gekko, I think the sight of witnessing something like would really be such a shock I wouldn't know what to do initially. But after talking to someone about it, I think it would become pretty obvious.

2) The people McQueary told never had the sobriety to actually counsel McQueary to call the cops. Instead, they just washed their hands by telling someone up the chain of command.

3) Actually seeing this Sandusky guy continue to walk around campus, even bringing children on campus as recently as 2007 (after the initial rape was witnessed in 2002), it never occurred to anyone to follow up on what happened to THE RAPE OF A CHILD.

4) The University had no choice but to can Paterno. How can you claim any moral high ground when you allow anyone on your payroll to turn their back on the RAPE OF CHILDREN.

5) Paterno still doesn't get it. First, he tried to dictate the terms of his own dismissal; the arrogance of power that started this whole mess. Second, he's pissed that they fired him over the phone. You mean to tell me that the University did the absolute minimum to cover their ass? Pot meet kettle.

6) So the students riot on behalf of Joe Pa. Seriously? This is the man you want as your flag bearer? A man who enabled the continued rape of children. I heard one student proclaim "he did so much for the University". Yeah, he allowed it to become a safe haven for pedophiles.

7) So according to the rioters, it's OK to support a man who turned his back on how many rape victims because he was good for the institution? Would any on these students be so willing to riot on behalf of the Bishops and Cardinals of the Catholic church who did the exact same thing? I mean, hey they did good as well. It's the highest form of moral relativism. Joe Pa should call Roman Polanski for his mailing list of sex crime enablers.

"Occupy DC" Violently Raids Tea Party's "Defending the American Dream Su...

Occupy Thugs Taunt Black Security Guard

Voting reminder

Tomorrow is election day for a large part of the country. As we go to the polls, I ask each of you to keep in mind two things.

First, look at the map below. It's the 2000 Gore-Bush presidential election by county. As you can see by the map, it's not a red state-blue state country. Our country is divided primarily by urban areas dominated by liberals and suburban and rural areas dominated by conservatives.

Seriously, is there one measurable quality of life statistic that would make life better in the blue areas over the red?

Schools? Crime? Employment? Poverty?

There's not one area in the country run by democrats that creates a better life for it's residents over conservatives.

Second, below are various demographic groups and individuals who you can probably group as liberals or conservatives.

When you vote tomorrow, ask yourself the question, which of these groups do you want as neighbors, teaching your kids, your coworkers?

Because your votes align you with the people below. And those people will be the people who will turn your school district/city/state/country into Detroit............ or not.

So tomorrow, you'll make a choice in the voting booth. Choose wisely.

War Protesters		Active Military
20 year olds		60 year olds
Larry Flynt		Pat Robertson
Criminals		Cops
Union Heads		Corporate executives
Drug Dealers		Convenience store owners
Alec Baldwin		Kelsey Grammar
Welfare Queens		Working women
Michael Stipe		Ted Nugent
Planned Parenthood		Right to Life
Sharon Stone		Bo Derek
ACORN workers		NASCAR Fans
Joy Behar		Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Atheists		Born again Christians
Madonna		Martina McBride
Vegans		Hunters
Non repentant terrorists		FBI agents
Homeless		Homeowners
College professors		Small business owners
Urbanites		Suburbanites
Any network news anchor		John Stossel

#occupy Rockford Files

Can we get James Garner to deliver this to all those derelicts living in parks?

why you should vote yes on Issue 2

Serious crime in Cincinnati continues to decline, and the number of police officers is dropping - yet taxpayers still pay more for police service.

The city now has 1,032 officers, the lowest number since 2003, according to an Enquirer comparison of staffing, crime and budget data. But the department's budget jumped in the eight years since to $104.4 million this year - a 22 percent increase.

Police officials have reduced civilian ranks and held the top ranks essentially steady, according to data obtained through a public records request. They haven't hired any new officers since 2008.

But costs continue to grow, specifically because of benefits and health care.

Payments to the police pension fund have jumped an average of almost 4 percent every year since 2000, according to the city budget office, and health care costs for all city employees averaged 18.5 percent increases annually in that same time period. Police agreed last year to a wage freeze, but it didn't take effect until this year.

More......

"Give"

This makes my hair hurt

Here.......

President Barry probably boycotted his lecture as well.

Apparently, a bunch of OWS protest supporters at Harvard showed their support of the movement by boycotting Greg Mankiw's EC 10 class.

Here's how the Harvard Crimson covered the boycott.......

The Occupy movement has become known for its many, and often contradictory, faces. Now we can add a new group of faces to that list—Ec 10 students. Students in the popular introductory economics class walked out fifteen minutes into the class yesterday in a gesture of solidarity with the Occupy movement and to protest what the event organizers consider a class that promotes a “strongly conservative neoliberal ideology.” We find it troubling that students would protest a class because of its supposed ideological bent at an institution dedicated to academic integrity. Such an action sets a dangerous precedent of ideological discrimination against professors.

While it is true that Professor N. Gregory Mankiw, who was lecturing during the walkout, has conservative views and held a position in the Bush Administration, we take issue with the claim that his class is inherently biased because he is the professor and author of its textbook. The truth is that Ec 10, a requirement for economics concentrators, provides a necessary academic grounding for the study of economics as a social science. Professor Mankiw’s curriculum sticks to the basics of economic theory without straying into partisan debate. We struggle to believe that we must defend his textbook, much maligned by the protesters, which is both peer reviewed and widely used.

Furthermore, the students protesting the class who desire that he give more time to other, less accepted schools of economic thought—like Marxism—would do well to remember that such interrogation is the domain of social theory, not economic theory. Supply-and-demand economics is a popular idea of how society is organized, and Mankiw’s Ec 10 never presents itself as more than that. As such, including other theories would simply muddy the waters of what is intended; Ec 10 is an introductory class that lays the foundation for future, more nuanced, study

This reminds me of a lecture my Econ 101 professor gave the class after his students did so poorly on an exam. After about 15 minutes of listening to him complain about how the people who didn't show up to class did poorly, I got up in front of about 600 students and said "Dr. Berry, the people who you are complaining about aren't here and the one's who are don't need to hear it."

Given the total lack of aptitude of the OWS people and our president, it appears that many of them could have sat in on this lecture and learned something.

More.......

If he were a republican we'd have known about this five years ago

Out of curiosity, how many of the media outlets who found time and space to report on Herman Cain's anonymous allegations will find time to report on The Big O's issues..........

A blockbuster new book rips the lid off President Barack Obama’s darkest se­crets – and could doom his bid to win a second term in the White House!

The explosive tell-all by take-no-prisoners blogger Mondo Frazier reveals the command­er in chief is a “chain-smok­ing wreck” who could be hooked on prescrip­tion drugs, and claims he may have spied for the CIA in col­lege.

“I’ve uncovered that Presi­dent Obama has spent over $2 million in legal fees to keep the details of his past hidden,” Frazier told The ENQUIRER. “This new book will surely impact his re-election campaign.”

In “The Secret Life of Barack Hussein Obama,” published by Simon & Schuster’s Threshold Editions press, Frazier alleges President Obama could have been a “CIA double agent” when he was a student at Columbia University.

That may be the reason why Obama re­fuses to release his Columbia records, ac­cording to Frazier, who also discloses that former National Se­curity Agency employee Wayne Madsen has discov­ered CIA files directly linked to this secret.

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Helping my fellow man

Hey, even though I'm a conservative, I have compassion for my fellow man.

Because of that, I'm looking to help Joe Therrien get a job by throwing out his story on my blog.

Who is Joe? Well let's read this.........

A few years ago, Joe Therrien, a graduate of the NYC Teaching Fellows program, was working as a full-time drama teacher at a public elementary school in New York City. Frustrated by huge class sizes, sparse resources and a disorganized bureaucracy, he set off to the University of Connecticut to get an MFA in his passion—puppetry. Three years and $35,000 in student loans later, he emerged with degree in hand, and because puppeteers aren’t exactly in high demand, he went looking for work at his old school. The intervening years had been brutal to the city’s school budgets—down about 14 percent on average since 2007. A virtual hiring freeze has been in place since 2009 in most subject areas, arts included, and spending on art supplies in elementary schools crashed by 73 percent between 2006 and 2009. So even though Joe’s old principal was excited to have him back, she just couldn’t afford to hire a new full-time teacher. Instead, he’s working at his old school as a full-time “substitute”; he writes his own curriculum, holds regular classes and does everything a normal teacher does. “But sub pay is about 50 percent of a full-time salaried position,” he says, “so I’m working for half as much as I did four years ago, before grad school, and I don’t have health insurance…. It’s the best-paying job I could find.”

Like a lot of the young protesters who have flocked to Occupy Wall Street, Joe had thought that hard work and education would bring, if not class mobility, at least a measure of security (indeed, a master’s degree can boost a New York City teacher’s salary by $10,000 or more).

Now, I know what you are thinking. How does a master's degree in puppetry increase his class mobility?

You may even be wondering if the guy did a cost/benefit analysis to see if a $35,000 investment in puppetry would yield a return greater than that?

But hey, the guy pursued his passion in life.... puppetry. Certainly, everyone has done that and it's always yielded results.

I only wish I could have pursued my dream. It really bummed me out to apply to school after school only to find out none of them had a program in Elvis Pressley. (For the record, Mama Gekko can attest that I told a first grade teacher that's who I wanted to be when I grew up).

I'm sure that if there were such a degree, I would have received a master's in the course of study and it would have paid off big bucks if it weren't for those greedy ass corporate Wall Street Bankers like Jon Corzine to hold me down.

Instead, I was forced to pursue my second greatest passion in life...... "accounting".

None the less, I want to help this guy out. Surely there is a coffee shop out there looking for a puppetry guy who can do a puppet skit while simultaneously squirting foam on a double crappccino.

More.........

The Real Class War: Jimmy Hoffa, Ohio Union Bosses vs. Ohio Union Member...

Life in "Progress" city - Highland Park MI edition

As the sun dips below the rooftops each evening, parts of this Detroit enclave turn to pitch black, the only illumination coming from a few streetlights at the end of the block or from glowing yellow yard globes.

It wasn't always this way. But when the debt-ridden community could no longer afford its monthly electric bill, elected officials not only turned off 1,000 streetlights. They had them ripped out -- bulbs, poles and all. Now nightfall cloaks most neighborhoods in inky darkness.

"How can you darken any city?" asked Victoria Dowdell, standing in the halo of a light in her front yard. "I think that was a disgrace. She said the decision endangers everyone, especially people who have to walk around at night or catch the bus.

Hey, don't worry, in Detroit there are no buses to catch anyway.

More....

Life in "Progress" City - Detroit edition

People who catch the bus in Detroit may be waiting a while Friday morning. About 100 Detroit Department of Transportation bus drivers are at work, but are refusing to drive their buses.

WWJ’s Scott Ryan spoke with Henry Gaffney, spokesman for the D-DOT bus drivers union AFL-CIO Local 26, who said this was not an organized maneuver by the union. Gaffney said it’s a matter of bus drivers fearing for their safety, citing an incident that happened Thursday afternoon.

“Our drivers are scared, they’re scared for their lives. This has been an ongoing situation about security. I think yesterday kind of just topped it off, when one of my drivers was beat up by some teenagers down in the middle of Rosa Parks and it took the police almost 30 minutes to get there, in downtown Detroit,” said Gaffney.

more.......

Meet Ketchup

or is it Catsup................

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Thanks reader Tim

Why you should vote yes on Ohio Issue 2

It use to be that public employees sacrificed pay and benefits for job security. Now they get it all.........

Since January 1985, the Batavia school board has paid 100 percent of its teachers’ contributions to their retirement.

Contracts approved by Cincinnati City Council include benefits that, among other things, permit many workers to draw 13 sick days a year, grant three weeks’ worth of compensatory time to public safety employees for holidays whether they work them or not, and entitle veteran police officers to nearly 10 weeks of various leaves annually.

In Butler County, sheriff’s deputies can earn a $200 per year physical fitness incentive based on how fast they can run a mile and how many pushups and sit ups they can do. There are different standards based on age and gender.

The public employee contracts in Cincinnati and the counties of Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren, their municipalities and the state are laced with lucrative provisions, all approved by our elected representatives – township trustees, county commissioners, city councils – but seldom found in the private sector.



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Life in "Progress" State - California edition

Coloradans hate children

How else can you explain this................

By 63.5% to 36.4%, voters on Tuesday routed an initiative that would have raised sales and income taxes for five years to provide $2.9 billion for schools and colleges. That's a resounding defeat. What makes it especially significant is the tax hike was intended for education — typically the last thing that voters want to see cut. Even sacred cows are being put on short rations these days.

63% HATE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Occupy White House

Nothing says 99% like big corporate bonuses for businesses with big federal bailouts and lots of democratic cash.........

But the fact is that the banks — most of which were mere victims of the financial meltdown — have paid back almost all the money they got from taxpayers. The much-ballyhooed $700 billion TARP program will likely end up costing taxpayers as little as $19 billion when all is said and done.

The same cannot be said of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Not only where they at the epicenter of the housing bubble, but also the government had to take them over, pumping in cash to cover their huge losses on the mortgages they owned and guaranteed. And far from paying taxpayers back, the best-case scenario for Fannie and Freddie is that their bailout will cost over $120 billion.

But that didn't stop the two agencies from giving their top 10 executives $12.8 million in bonuses for meeting what have been charitably described as "modest goals."

And the White House response to this genuine outrage? Crickets.

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Regulations create jobs

just think of all the bureaucrats employed for this mess............

Next up was Randy Truckenbrodt of Randall Industries. Randy told us of a facility he purchased in the 1980s that had two small gasoline tanks buried on the property by previous owners. He wanted to dig up the old ones and replace them with one that would better serve his needs for his fleet of trucks.

Truckenbrodt contacted the government, secured permits, hired a contractor and dug up the two aging gasoline tanks. Then the nightmare began. The IEPA and other agencies began a long, drawn out game of questioning, demanding, and stalling Truckenbrodt’s work resulting in almost two decades of obstruction. A 50-some-foot hole was left open in the ground in the middle of his property for 17 years as government officials dallied on giving him permission to complete his construction. 17 years!

All during this time, Truckenbrodt’s property was in a purgatory unable to be sold, improved, or used easily by his company. Worse, all financial avenues were closed to him for the property. He could not refinance or get loans as the IEPA had the property on its trouble list.

Truckenbrodt noted that the environmental testing game is a major scam more often than not because the state encourages testing, and testing, and testing ’til the cows come home racking up costs the whole time. It’s so bad, Truckenbrodt said, that many contractors have told him they quietly urge clients to just go ahead and build their buildings, lay their driveways, or do other things without notifying the IEPA at all and cross fingers that the government will never find out about the work being done. The system, Truckenbrodt says, is so bad that it encourages people to break the law and cheat in order to avoid the jobs-killing regulatory nightmare that can sometimes take decades to get through.

More......

But hey, you can move your business to Indonesia.....problem solved.

Life in "Progress" City - Kansas City edition

No one, it seems, is immune from the scourge of copper theft.

This weekend a Kansas City police radio tower was the target of thieves who made off with an estimated $12,000 worth of wiring and other metal items.

The theft in the 6800 block of Booth Avenue in the south-central part of the city was discovered Saturday morning. An officer checking the tower site discovered that a chain used to secure the gate had been cut and the gate was open.

Police discovered that a “large amount” of wiring and other items were missing.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/31/3239940/copper-thieves-strike-police-radio.html#ixzz1cbGsQVXq

The NCAA continues its ethnic cleansing act.......

on the Fighting Sioux.........

The Spirit Lake tribe Tuesday sued the NCAA for blocking its attempt to let the University of North Dakota use the sports nickname Fighting Sioux.

Tribal attorney Reed Soderstrom said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court challenges the NCAA's policy banning the use of Native American names and imagery by collegiate athletic teams.

He said the suit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association was brought on behalf of more than 1,004 members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe "in direct response to their attempt to take away and prevent the North Dakota Sioux Indians from giving their name forever to the University of North Dakota" despite a tribal vote in 2009 and a "sacred and religious spiritual ceremony" by tribal leaders in 1969 that granted "perpetual use" of the name to the school.

Isn't it funny how a bunch of white bread, politically correct, liberal do gooders know so much. They even know when Sioux tribesman should be offended when a university takes on their name. Of course, they're also so smart that they know that Sioux in North Dakota should be offended but Seminoles in Florida or Illini in Illinois should not.

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trust an academician

NOT

When colleagues called the work of Dutch psychologist Diederik Stapel too good to be true, they meant it as a compliment. But a preliminary investigative report (go.nature.com/tqmp5c) released on October 31 gives literal meaning to the phrase, detailing years of data manipulation and blatant fabrication by the prominent Tilburg University researcher.

"We have some 30 papers in peer-reviewed journals where we are actually sure that they are fake, and there are more to come," says Pim Levelt, chair of the committee that investigated Stapel's work at the university.

Stapel's eye-catching studies on aspects of social behaviour such as power and stereo­typing garnered wide press coverage. For example, in a recent Science paper (which the investigation has not identified as fraudulent), Stapel reported that untidy environments encouraged discrimination ( Science 332, 251-253; 2011).

"Somebody used the word 'wunderkind'," says Miles Hewstone, a social psychologist at the University of Oxford, UK. "He was one of the bright thrusting young stars of Dutch social psychology -- highly published, highly cited, prize-winning, worked with lots of people, and very well thought of in the field."

I can attest to some shenanigans my ex wife went through with her Masters adviser who was hell bent on manipulating her data to prove that work place diversity increased productivity.

Why? Because they both knew that the more politically correct hypothesis your data can support, the easier it is to get published. Kind of like global warming.

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Stuff liberals run - MF Global

So Jon Corzine ran a for profit company much like he did the state of New Jersey.... into the ground......

Jon Corzine, the CEO of bankrupt broker-dealer MF Global, saw his reputation tossed from the frying pan right into the regulatory fire yesterday when investigators discovered as much as $700 million in customer funds missing from the firm.

Officials from two US regulators, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, were looking into whether the loot was diverted to support some of the firm’s own trades.

As if the allegedly missing funds, which happened on Corzine’s watch, are not bad enough, it was learned late yesterday that the $700 million was responsible for capsizing a potential deal between MF Global and rival Interactive Brokers Group that could have saved the firm and the jobs of the company’s 2,870 employees worldwide.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/political_suicide_qCVtUTzdyDpn6Ndsb070zM#ixzz1cTl6IvpN

Chuck the union

I've been out of it for the past couple of weeks as I've been busy getting all of my firm's last minute compliance work finished before the 10/31 deadline.

None the less, for all the clamoring about how Walmart is hostile to unions.... maybe someone should tell the workers.

Workers at a Wal-Mart in Gatineau, Que., are officially decertified from their union after just more than a year with their first collective agreement.

Quebec's Labour Relations Commission removed the more than 150 workers, who are employed at a store on du Plateau Boulevard in the city's Hull sector, from their union.

The Wal-Mart workers first joined the union, United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, in 2008. Then after two years of unsuccessful negotiations between the union and Wal-Mart, an arbitrator enforced a collective agreement in the summer of 2010.

"This follows an application made by our Hull associates earlier this year to decertify the union at their store," said Andrew Pelletier, Wal-Mart's vice president of corporate affairs and sustainability.

"Wal-Mart respects the decision of our Hull associates. They have made their views clear in this matter."

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Pelosi: "Yes" The Obama NLRB Should Shut Down Boeing's Plan In SC

Only in government.......

is failure rewarded with more money.........

In the wake of Enquirer reports that Hamilton County's Job and Family Services agency is at the breaking point - with too many cases per worker and woefully out-of-date technology - two commissioners said Monday they want to help the agency.

Commission President Greg Hartmann, a Republican, and Todd Portune, a Democrat, both suggested allowing the agency to dip in a $28 million reserve in the children's services levy. That money has been set aside for an expected penalty for bad bookkeeping decisions a decade ago.

The idea to give JFS a cash infusion comes up 48 hours before Hamilton County commissioners are set to vote on the county's 2012 budget. It's expected to come in at $208.8 million, about the same as this year.

A technology upgrade could cost as much as $750,000 - but it all depends on what equipment is purchased and for how many social workers. Details are still being worked out, Hartmann said.

It will take two votes of the three-man board of commissioners to make the purchase.

Commissioners Chris Monzel was not at Monday's regular staff meeting due to a family medical emergency.

JFS Director Moira Weir, who oversees the children's services division, could not be reached for comment.

The Enquirer revealed the children's service's surplus last week. The agency is asking voters Nov. 8 to renew the levy that pays for the care of abused and neglected children in the county.

All eyes are on the agency right now after the Oct. 21 death of Damarcus Jackson, a 2-year-old who spent nearly his whole life in Hamilton County foster care. A Hamilton County Juvenile Court magistrate in August sent Damarcus to live with his biological parents.

So someone please explain to me how it is that better technology will help people make a decision to move a kid back into an abusive household?

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Solyndra Jr.

Another great investment by the feds goes feet up.............

(Reuters) - Beacon Power Corp filed for bankruptcy on Sunday just a year after the energy storage company received a $43 million loan guarantee from a controversial U.S. Department of Energy program.

The move comes about two months after solar panel maker Solyndra also filed for bankruptcy, setting off criticism of the government loan program.

The department guaranteed $535 million in loans to Solyndra, and Congress is investigating whether political influence played a role.

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EAT THE RICH!

I wonder if reading Animal Farm was part of her degree?

MSNBC's Karen Finney on Herman Cain

Peter Schiff Speaks for 1 Percent at Occupy Wall Street

Rise of the Obamavilles

Obama In San Francisco: As Americans, "We Have Lost Our Ambition, Our Im...

Have you ever been around a VDP (very draining person)? The kind of person who, just by their presence, sucks the life out of a room.

BO is that person. His very presence anywhere sucks ambition and imagination from the room. Who really wants to be around this a-hole?

They won't have those corporate jet owners to kick around anymore

Or the employees who build them..........

Piper Aircraft Inc. on Monday announced it will lay off 150 employees and release 55 contract personnel as a result of a decision to indefinitely suspend its Piper Altaire light business jet program.

Layoffs will begin this week and progress through the end of the year as the program winds down. Employees will receive individual separation packages depending on factors such as the length of time they were employed, said Piper spokeswoman Jackie Carlon.

Contract personnel were let go today. The contract personnel were largely engineers working as independent contractors or through an agency. They were primarily based at the Vero Beach facility. according to the company.

While the Altaire program was on schedule and budget, Carlon said "the market for light business jets is not recovering sufficiently enough or quickly enough for us to continue developing the program under the economic conditions we currently face,"

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Life in "Progress" City - St. Louis edition

St. Louis police are looking for a group of 10 to 15 people who brutally beat a 51-year-old man.

It happened near the public library in the 3300 block of South Grand around 11:40 p.m. on October 21.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay was the first person to spot the victim. He tells NewsChannel 5 he was driving along Grand with his security officer when they saw the crowd from a distance.

Slay says when they got closer the crowd ran off, leaving the bloody and unconscious victim and a friend.

The friend said he and the victim were walking from a nearby grocery store when the man was punched in the face and knocked out cold for no reason.

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Life in "Progress" City - San Francisco edition

Brazen thieves have stolen a 2.6-tonne church bell from an iconic church in San Francisco.

The 122-year-old relic, which sat in front of St Mary's Cathedral after being replaced by an electronic chime in the 1970s, had survived the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and a 1962 arson attack that gutted the building, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

But it was unable to withstand the determination of metal thieves who would have used heavy lifting equipment in the brazen heist.

Made up of 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin, the bell would fetch close to $75,000 if melted down.

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"Us"

Why businesses leave this country

Because politicians have this attitude and put it into policy............

If ever there was a “company town,” it is Lynchburg, Tenn.

Jack Daniel’s and Lynchburg have been inseparable since a young man named Jack Daniel came there more than a century ago to learn the art of distilling corn mash into whiskey. He set up shop on the northeastern end of town and the company has never looked to go anywhere else. It produces 23 million gallons of amber gold – about a billion dollars worth, every year.

But the company’s deep pockets make it a prime target for a local government that is strapped for revenue – and now a private citizen wants to slap the storied whiskey producer with a $10 tax on each and every barrel the distillery fills.

“We are entitled to more money from the only industry in the county – Jack Daniel’s distillery,” said Charles Rogers, a 75-year-old retiree and self-described “concerned citizen” of Moore County – home to Lynchburg and Jack Daniel’s.

Seriously? You're "entitled" to someone's money who does nothing but employees people in your community, brings tourist into town which helps other businesses and already pays loads of taxes to begin with?

It used to be these were the things said behind closed doors. Now it's a perfectly acceptable in public discourse.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/21/jack-daniels-faces-more-taxes-from-cash-strapped-hometown-in-tennessee/#ixzz1bnnQicGd

Gibson Guitar CEO Speaks Out

occupy Dayton

Apparently my boycott is working

A while back I noted my boycott of NBC. For me it's not much of a sacrifice; kind of like boycotting brussels sprouts.

But apparently, my boycott is taking hold............

NBC's downward slide is getting steeper.

Long a ratings laggard, the network has fallen further behind its competitors this fall, heightening the challenge facing its new owner Comcast Corp. as it works to mount a turnaround.

Through the first four weeks of the TV season ending Oct. 16, about 3.3 million adults under 50 years old have been watching prime-time TV shows on NBC, according to the latest figures from Nielsen Holdings NV. That is down 9.3% from the same period a year earlier. Much of the decline is concentrated in NBC's entertainment shows.

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Life in "progress" State - Illinois edition

Or as they say in the Mediterranean, Welcome to Greece........................

Illinois is losing the hearts and minds of the people who put people to work here.

The chief executives at some of Illinois' largest companies think economic conditions are better in neighboring states. They expect economic growth here to lag the nation's growth. They believe Illinois taxes are a roadblock to investment. They have no faith that political leaders will use the 67 percent income tax increase imposed this year to put state government on firmer financial ground.

The business leaders have no confidence in Illinois' ability to compete with its neighboring states.

They have no confidence in its ability to resolve its fiscal crisis.

They have no confidence in the state's political leaders.

The Chicago Tribune editorial board surveyed 45 chief executives at large, publicly held companies based in Illinois. The results should be a wake-up call. The executives delivered a thudding vote of no confidence in the leadership and direction of the state they call home.

Sounds like the same vote of no confidence towards the president from that very state.

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Life in "Progress" State - RI edition

ON the night of Sept. 8, Gina M. Raimondo, a financier by trade, rolled up here with news no one wanted to hear: Rhode Island, she declared, was going broke.

Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow. But if current trends held, Ms. Raimondo warned, the Ocean State would soon look like Athens on the Narragansett: undersized and overextended. Its economy would wither. Jobs would vanish. The state would be hollowed out.

It is not the sort of message you might expect from Ms. Raimondo, a proud daughter of Providence, a successful venture capitalist and, not least, the current general treasurer of Rhode Island. But it is a message worth hearing. The smallest state in the union, it turns out, has a very big debt problem.

After decades of drift, denial and inaction, Rhode Island’s $14.8 billion pension system is in crisis. Ten cents of every state tax dollar now goes to retired public workers. Before long, Ms. Raimondo has been cautioning in whistle-stops here and across the state, that figure will climb perilously toward 20 cents. But the scary thing is that no one really knows. The Providence Journal recently tried to count all the municipal pension plans outside the state system and stopped at 155, conceding that it might have missed some. Even the Securities and Exchange Commission is asking questions, including the big one: Are these numbers for real?

As real as global warming numbers.

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Berkley-Reid-Obama - They've Made It Worse

Who did he vote for? #109

Meet Vincent Pickens, or at least his resume.

Why is Vince in the news?

Let's just say he's one of the 99%ers. But at least he's looking for a job...... I think.

Here's a sample of his resume

Lazy m@ther f$%ker

Sit my ass on the couch corporation -

Champaign, IL

Present

Don't do shit. sit there smoke weed and eat all the f^&kin food in the damn house. Also search the school yards for 7 year old girls..

Fork Lift Operator/Customer Service

HK Systems -

Peoria, IL

June 2007 to June 2009

* Loaded and unloaded products from trailers to dock
* Checked Inventory in/out using Oracle scanning
system
* Placed products into proper location using to record location
* Assured accuracy of parts on Caterpillar Engine
Assembly Line

So in 2008, let's assume this guy found enough energy to get to a polling station. Did he pull the chain for Obama or McCain?